Lots going on in the tropics today! Fred has regained its strength and is back to a tropical storm. Not too likely to become a hurricane, though, so the main impacts will continue to be gusty winds, a small chance of an isolated tornado, and lots of rain along and to the right of the path. The cone was drifting westward yesterday but has moved back somewhat to the east, which means that western Georgia is now more likely to see wind damage than when the cone was farther west in Alabama. The highest winds will be in the Florida panhandle, southeast Alabama, and southwestern Georgia. They could hit as early as Monday morning along the Gulf Coast, but are more likely to hit on Monday afternoon. Winds in AL and GA will crank up later Monday night or Tuesday morning and will continue through Tuesday as Fred moves north through the region. The heaviest rainfall will be as much as 10 inches along the Gulf Coast and possibly a few locations in the northeast Georgia mountains. Most of northern GA will see at least 2 inches over the next few days, and some areas could see up to 6 inches. From there the rain will move northeast and should bring some relief to the dry areas of NC and VA. If you are in the area along and to the right of the path of Fred, then you should be prepared for some periods of heavy rain (probably not continuous, though), occasional strong gusty winds, and possibly some small tornadoes in Georgia and northern Florida.
Meanwhile, TS Gloria has fallen apart even before it hit the tall mountains of Hispaniola and is down to a depression. It is expected to continue WNW into the Gulf of Mexico and eventually head for Texas, so unless you are in South Florida you won’t see much impact. Another area of potential development has also popped up in the Atlantic near Bermuda and is likely to be designated as Henri tomorrow, but it won’t affect us here in the US. Another wave is moving off Africa today, but so far it does not look that strong so not likely to develop any time soon. Plenty of time to watch that one before we have to worry about it.
