Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Thursday in response to a tropical disturbance building in the Caribbean.
The tropical disturbance, dubbed “Invest 97L,” continues to become more likely to develop as it moves closer to the United States.
However, the Fox Forecast Center said details of the potential impact on the US remained unclear.
The system could develop into a tropical depression or even a tropical storm as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico late this weekend or early next week.
Where is Invest 97L?
According to the NHC, a well-defined tropical wave is producing widespread, chaotic showers and thunderstorms over Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the southeastern Bahamas, and adjacent waters of the southwest Atlantic and northeastern Caribbean.
“Development of this system should progress slowly over the next day or so as it moves in a west-northwestward direction across parts of the Greater Antilles.” In its latest outlook, the NHC.
“However, environmental conditions are forecast to be more favorable for development after this wave passes the Greater Antilles, and a tropical storm is likely to develop in the eastern Gulf of Mexico near the Florida peninsula sometime this weekend or early next week.”
The NHC noted that stakeholders in the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, and Florida should continue to monitor the system’s progress.
The chances of this disturbance occurring within the next two days are low but increasing, and the NHC has now raised the chances of it occurring within the week to the “high” category.
Florida flood threat grows
The latest model forecasts show the storm is expected to move toward Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but uncertainty remains.
But Fox Weather hurricane expert Brian Norcross said some issues remain consistent across different forecasts.
“This storm will deliver a lot of moisture to the Florida peninsula and possibly surrounding states. There is a chance of rain causing flooding,” he said.
“(Second) the storm will likely remain stationary and stationary over or near the northern half of Florida for several days. Areas from the northern Gulf Coast through to the Carolinas could be affected, and we cannot rule out the possibility of the storm following a looping path that could affect the same areas multiple times.”
There will be little time to prepare as the storm could develop quickly and move closer to Florida.
If a storm develops near Florida, “there’s probably about 24 hours of preparation time at most,” said Fox Weather forecaster Britta Merwin.
“This movement could occur at the same time that rain is already moving over land. If this were to actually happen, it would all happen very quickly, so you need to think about that possibility and prepare yourself and your family for it.”
If the system strengthens into a tropical storm, it will be named “Debby,” which would make it the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.
But whether or not it is named a storm, the storm is expected to bring heavy rain to Florida, especially the Gulf Coast.
“No matter what happens in Florida, we’re going to get a lot of rain, so we need to at least be prepared for that,” Merwin said.
“Heavy rainfall is expected across Florida on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, which could cause flooding.”
