The latest 5-day Atlantic forecast notes two new areas of likely development over the next five days. These two waves are at lower latitudes than Hurricane Sam, which means they are more likely to reach the Southeast than other waves that develop at higher latitudes. But there is a long way to cross over the ocean, and some adverse conditions along the way, so nothing is certain at this time and we have plenty of time to watch. As the Eastern Atlantic season starts to wind down in the next few weeks, the Gulf and Caribbean will become more important for late-season storms. Nothing on the horizon there, either, so limited worries at this point.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Sam is near category 5 in strength but is not expected to affect us at all except for some swells on the East Coast. The area in the central Atlantic is one of the previous named storms that fell apart but still has a little potential to regain enough strength to be reconstituted, but that won’t be a problem for us either.