According to the National Hurricane Center the tropical wave we have been watching for several days is now located between the southeastern Bahamas and the northeastern coast of Cuba.
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Regardless of development or not, there will still be locally heavy rain and gusty winds to to parts of southern Florida.
Here in South Florida and the Florida Keys we could see heavy rains and gusty winds which could continue through early next week.
State officials are concerned that potential development could interrupt elections on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
In Florida, we must always be prepared for a storm before landfall.
At this time it appears that Central Florida will have an increase of afternoon showers and storms by Sunday the system passes slightly to our south.
And if those two storms weren’t enough to keep weather watchers busy, another disturbance cropped up overnight in the Gulf of Mexico.
There is also a risk of power cuts and property damage due to high winds and flooding. They are saying it is getting better organized.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm’s maximum sustained winds Thursday are near 70 miles per hour (110 kph) with a turn toward the west-northwest and a decrease in forward speed expected on Saturday.
Gaston was moving northwest at 17 miles per hour. There are also the questions of what wind sheer, which has already hampered development of the storm, will do to the system in the coming days.
Gaston was expected to stay on that path for the next few days before taking a turn to the northeast.
Hurricane season normally peaks around late August through the middle of September.
In any event, I will be monitoring this storm closely, as I have been doing since 1979 when my interest in hurricanes started.
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So far this year, seven named storms have formed and three hurricanes, Alex and Earl. It could then move over the Gulf of Mexico early next week, intensify and threaten the Gulf Coast.
