Tropical Storm Bret Develops Off Florida Coast
This latest infrared satellite image shows the increasing thunderstorm activity and organization of the cloud mass which combined with recon data has shown that Tropical Depression Two has developed..
AccuWeather.com meteorologists have been targeting this zone off the Southeast coast as a trouble spot for tropical development for this upcoming week.
Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski stated in a previous story that "In order for a tropical cyclone to take place, we would need about a dozen or so things to occur..."
As of 8 P.M. EST Sunday, those factors have come true as an area of low pressure about 150 miles east of the east coast of Florida has developed into the second tropical storm of the season.
This storm formed as a low pressure center located along a stalled frontal boundary broke off into a separate entity and then became a tropical depression Sunday afternoon.
A pocket of warm water located off the Southeast coast is also contributing to the organization of this system. The region itself is one of several near-coast areas favored for tropical development during July.
Up until today, strong wind shear, or "twisting of the winds in the atmosphere," had been hindering any kind of organization.
The wind shear has weakened over the last 24 hours, and it is forecast to continue to weaken over the next day or so. This will lead to the light winds aloft which are required for further strengthening of the tropical storm. However, at this time we do not expect tropical storm Bret to develop into a hurricane as it will eventually encounter more wind shear as it gets pulled northeastward away from Florida.
Thunderstorm activity as seen by the satellite imagery and local radars out of Florida has ramped up quite a bit the last 12 hours.
Right now, forecast models take the system slowly northeastward for the next two days due to the weak steering flow aloft. This motion would keep the feature from making any direct impacts to land.
Beyond Tuesday, the system should get picked up in some stronger upper level winds as a dip in the jet stream invades the western and northern Atlantic.
Either way, regardless of whether this system makes landfall or not, it will bring bands of heavy rainfall to the northern Bahamas through Tuesday along with parts of the east coast of Florida. The feature could eventually have an impact on Bermuda later in the week.
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past 24 hours
| Extreme | Location | |
|---|---|---|
| High | 107° | Death Valley, CA |
| Low | 28° | Daniel, WY |
| Precip | 3.25" | Buffalo, MN |
WeatherWhys®
People need to pay close attention to the UV index during this time of year. On a sunny day late in the spring and into the summer, the UV is usually at least an 8, which is very high. Readings over 11 are considered extreme values in which only 10 minutes of full exposure to the sun will produce a sunburn.
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