Tropical Energy Coming Ashore Thursday Will Push Heavy Rain & Wind Inland Into the Southeast
09/23/24 6:31pm ET
Good evening everyone. For the past few days we’ve been focusing on the heavy rain and thunderstorms throughout the Midwest and Central States, while awaiting to see what the tropics will do.
This is the time of year where we begin to watch Central America and the western Caribbean for old waves of low pressure that get hung up, then brought north by frontal or trough activity. The time has come where we need to watch activity south of Cuba, which is expected to strengthen and head into the Gulf of Mexico.
For this reason, the National Weather Service has issued a Tropical Storm Watch for the entire Florida Keys, as well as Hurricane Warning for all of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. At this point, development and a direct impact on Florida is a certainty; however, where future Hurricane Helene makes landfall is uncertain.
Areas from the west coast of Florida to the Panhandle, need to watch this closely and begin preparing for a direct or indirect impact. Landfall is expected some time between late Thursday morning and late Thursday afternoon.