Another Tropical System Off the Florida Coast?

Brian Edwards
By Brian Edwards, Meteorologist
August 03, 2012; 8:46 PM
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Late-afternoon satellite image courtesy of NOAA.

AccuWeather.com Meteorologists continue to monitor an area of low pressure located over the northern Bahamas for potential development over the next day or so.

A large area of showers and thunderstorms currently drenching the central and northwestern Bahamas will continue to slowly track northwestward over the next day or two.

Over the last few hours, satellite imagery has shown some slight organization of this feature. Some twisting in the shower activity can also be noted on radar imagery out of Miami.

According to AccuWeather.com Tropical Expert Dan Kottlowski, "This feature is a surface trough of low pressure which developed on the northern fringes of a tropical wave. Surface pressures have fallen the last few hours north of Cuba, east of Florida, and west of the Bahamas."

If surface pressures continue to fall tonight and early Saturday, there is a possibility that this system could wrap up into an organized tropical system before moving onshore over Florida.

Kottlowski stated that "There is a small chance that this system wraps up over the next 24-36 hours. The most critical time to watch is going to be during the day Saturday, because by Saturday night, this system will be moving onshore over Florida."

Regardless of development, this system will bring locally heavy rains to parts of the Bahamas and southern Florida through Saturday.

In fact, downpours have already brought nearly 1.3 inches of rain to Miami International Airport this afternoon with nearly an inch and a half falling at Fort Lauderdale.

Localized flooding is possible over southern Florida and the Bahamas as these showers can drop 1-2 inches of rain in an hour.

Not only are we monitoring this system, but our Meteorologists continue to monitor the progress of Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Stay tuned to the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center for the latest information on both systems over the weekend.

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