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Multiple tropical development areas are lurking in Atlantic for late July

While the Caribbean remains quiet, there are several areas of the Atlantic basin, especially some close to the United States that bear watching in the coming days for tropical activity.

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

Published Jul 20, 2025 11:37 AM EDT | Updated Jul 20, 2025 11:37 AM EDT

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AccuWeather’s Ali Reid explains how the AccuWeather RealImpact scale gives a more comprehensive view of hurricane impacts.

There are several areas over the Atlantic basin that AccuWeather meteorologists are keeping a close eye on for tropical development, including waters along the northern Gulf coast through the end of this week.

While none of the areas from off the southern Atlantic coast to waters north of South America are deemed a high risk, the zone that will be represented by a cluster of showers and thunderstorms that tracks westward along the northern Gulf coast is most likely to have some significant impacts, regardless of tropical development.

The area of interest is associated with a batch of drenching showers and thunderstorms that may trigger dangerous flash flooding and damaging wind gusts as it travels from the Ohio Valley to the southern Appalachians into Monday and then over the Carolinas and Georgia and off the southern Atlantic coast from Monday to Tuesday.

From there, steering breezes will direct this budding low pressure area toward the west across northern Florida and the northeastern Gulf coast from Tuesday to Wednesday, Louisiana and offshore waters from Wednesday to Thursday, and then along the Texas coast from Thursday to Friday.

How far off the coast the center of the storm forms and tracks may affect its ability to fully develop and strengthen, AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said. "If the center is able to stay offshore long enough, it will increase its chances for tropical development. However, if the center hugs the coast, it will struggle to strengthen."

'Another factor will be stiff, disruptive breezes (wind shear), which will also tend to push the storm steadily and swiftly to the west," DaSilva explained.

This wind shear will be created by a building area of high pressure, or heat dome, to the north over the middle of the U.S. this week. Tropical storms have an easier time trying to form and strengthen when wind shear is low (disruptive breezes are light).

Regardless of tropical development or not, the northern Gulf and adjacent coastal areas along the Interstate 10 corridor will experience a period of stormy conditions from east to west this week with one or more rounds of drenching downpours and gusty thunderstorms.

Several inches of rain are likely to fall along portions of the I-10 corridor this week. Some locations may receive upwards of 6 inches of rain, and a significant part of that may fall in a few hours, raising the risk of flash flooding in urban and low-lying areas. Travel disruptions and dangerous conditions may develop in some communities.

Another factor will be the likelihood of thunderstorm squalls moving from west to east across the northern Gulf. These will pose dangers to boaters and coastal interests. Seas can rapidly turn rough, with the potential for waterspouts and tornadoes in coastal areas.

The final destination for the cluster of downpours or perhaps a tropical rainstorm will be Texas late this week. Much of the state will be sweltering in the hottest weather pattern of the summer this week.

Storms that move in from the east may offer some relief from the heat. However, the heat could increase the intensity of the thunderstorms and the tropical area of interest itself will have the entire week to develop while moving westward over the northern Gulf. For this reason, coastal areas and even parts of central Texas should monitor the progress of this area of tropical interest in terms of the potential gusty coastal winds and flooding downpours.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, the zone farther out to sea off the East Coast is being watched for tropical development this week. Steering breezes would guide any storm that forms farther away from the U.S.

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Thousands of miles to the southwest, in waters northeast of South America, a tropical wave of low pressure is one of the more robust that have moved off the coast of Africa so far this summer. Any development is likely to be limited to the first half of this week, as thereafter, steering breezes will push this tropical wave into a zone of greater wind shear and dry air.

The prime development season of the Atlantic, or Cabo Verde season, where tropical waves moving westward off the coast of Africa strengthen into tropical storms and hurricanes, typically does not ramp up until the middle to latter part of August.

This is usually due to what is present now--vast areas of dry air, dust and wind shear in the prime development zone during the middle of the summer.

More stories of interest:

100-degree heat dome to set up shop over southern US
Severe thunderstorms to bring a risk for flash flooding
Boy survives Vietnam tourist boat sinking that killed dozens

Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.

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