Forecast: Tropical wave likely to bring rain
TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - A tropical wave moving towards Florida will likely make for a rainy weekend, but it's unlikely to develop into anything more substantial until it enters the Gulf of Mexico.
Forecasters say the area of showers and storms, currently sitting near the Turks and Caicos Islands, will move over the state late this week, enhancing the chance of rain through the weekend. Anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of rain is possible by early next week.
"We could have a developing tropical depression work its way into the Gulf of Mexico as we get into next week," FOX 13 meteorologist Jim Weber explained. "All we're really talking about for us is an increase in our rain chances over Florida."
Because the system is still so disorganized, there is not a lot of agreement among forecast models about where it will go after that, but most suggest it will continue on towards the northern Gulf Coast.
Two other areas further out in the Atlantic are also being watched. The closer tropical wave is moving west but is not expected to organize in the next few days thanks to stronger wind shear.
A further tropical wave, just off of Africa, is not organized now, but conditions will be favorable for it to develop and intensify as it moves west across the warm Atlantic.
"Still a long ways off and this is way out in the Atlantic, but this is an area we'll watch pretty closely as we get into next week," Weber added.