Weather
Tropical System Could Strengthen In Gulf As It Leaves FL
An area of low-pressure moving out of Florida could still strengthen into a tropical depression in the Gulf as it targets Louisiana.
A broad low-pressure area moving west across northern Florida and the Panhandle Wednesday still has a 40 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression or storm as it leaves the state, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm, Invest 93L, could strengthen as it moves out of Florida into the Gulf. If it does, it could become Dexter, the fourth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.
The showers and thunderstorms associated with the system are disorganized to the south and southwest of its center, NHC said.
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The system is expected to continue moving west and could emerge or redevelop over the far northeastern to north-central portion of the Gulf by late Wednesday and reach the Louisiana coast by Thursday, forecasters said.
“Hurricane center is loosely placing the low pressure over the Panhandle. Honestly, it's hard to find the exact center. The system is very disorganized. The chance remains low for any kind of organization with this system as it moves west,” Denis Phillips, chief meteorologist for ABC Action News, wrote in a Facebook post. “Even if it does do something, it's running out of time as it gets pulled north into Louisiana late Thursday or early Friday. It's mainly a rain-maker for the northern Gulf. Localized flooding is still possible no matter how much this organizes or not.”
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If it moves far enough offshore, conditions in the Gulf are favorable for further development, though, and a tropical depression could form over the next couple of days, NHC experts said.
"There is still time for the tropical rainstorm to evolve into an official tropical depression or tropical storm, but that time is limited," Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather lead hurricane expert, said on Wednesday morning. "It probably has until the middle of the day on Thursday to do so."
The system is expected to move fully inland by the end of the week.
Torrential downpours are expected across Florida Wednesday, which could cause localized flash flooding in areas, NHC said.
Parts of the north-central Gulf Coast — coastal Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama — will also see heavy rain and flash flooding.
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