Tropical Depression, Other Storms Threaten Georgia Coast

Georgians planning to head toward the beach for the Labor Day holiday would do well to keep an eye on the weather.

Several storms, most notably a tropical depression brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, have the potential to dump heavy rains on the coastal areas of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina over the next several days.

Meteorologists on Tuesday were eyeing what's being called Tropical Depression Nine in the Gulf.

As of Tuesday morning, the storm was located about 340 miles west of Key West. It was moving west-northwest at 7 mph and packing maximum sustained winds of 35 mph.

On Tuesday, the storm's predicted path has it rumbling through north Florida and sweeping up north along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina on Thursday and Friday before eventually turning back out to sea.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for coastal Georgia based on the depression, which is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm.

The outlook says there's still a lot of uncertainty about the storm's exact path and how strong it will get, urging people planning to be in the area to keep an eye on the latest forecasts.

Tropical Depression Eight is also under watch near the coast of North Carolina. That storm was located about 70 miles south of Cape Hatteras as of late Tuesday morning. The depression was moving north-northwest at 5 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph.

As of Tuesday morning, forecasters at the hurricane center expected the depression to reach tropical storm status sometime on Tuesday. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for parts of the North Carolina coastline.

On its current path, the storm is expected to brush by North Carolina between Tuesday and Wednesday before continuing on a northeasterly path away from the rest of the Eastern Seaboard.

Should the two depressions reach tropical storm status as expected, they will earn the names Hermine and Ian.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season peaks each year between mid-August and mid-October. The period is described as the “season within the season” by forecasters. This eight-week period “is often the most active and dangerous time for tropical cyclone activity,” NOAA explained on its website.

The eight-week period is historically responsible for major spikes in tropical weather activity, NOAA said. In fact, it accounts for about 78 percent of all tropical storm days on record. It is also the period when 87 percent of the Category 1 and 2 hurricane days on record occurred.

In addition, this period is responsible for “a whopping 96 percent of the major (Category 3, 4 and 5) hurricane days.”

Patch's Sherri Lonon contributed to this report.

Image via Shutterstock. Maps via National Weather Service