South Florida will see mostly east coast showers and storms on Tuesday, but we’ll all be watching the progress of Tropical Storm Dorian now and during the days to come. Here at home, Tuesday features some sun, more clouds, and periods of showers and storms, with the east coast metro area seeing much of the activity. Highs on Tuesday will be in the very sticky low 90s.
Wednesday will see additional showers and storms developing throughout South Florida. Wednesday’s highs will be near 90 degrees.
Look for showers and storms to focus on the Gulf coast and interior on Thursday, but some afternoon storms will be around the east coast metro area as well. Thursday’s highs will be near 90 degrees.
Friday features periods of showers and storms, with sun and clouds at times. Friday’s highs will be near 90 degrees.
Saturday’s weather will depend on the location and strength of Dorian. For now, we’ll say it will be a day of clouds and gusty showers and storms, with heavy rain at times. Highs on Saturday will be in the upper 80s.
Dorian is moving through the Windward Islands early on Tuesday, and tropical storm warnings are in effect for those islands. At 5 am, Dorian was located near 13.5 North, 60.7 West, about 45 miles southeast of St. Lucia. Dorian was moving west-northwest at 13 miles per hour, and maximum sustained winds were 50 miles per hour. It remains a compact storm. Dorian is headed toward Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, which will feel its effects on Wednesday into Thursday. A tropical storm warning and hurricane watch are in effect for Puerto Rico, and watches and warnings are also up for portions of the Dominican Republic. Heavy rain from Dorian is likely to cause mudslides and flooding in mountainous regions, and Puerto Rico’s infrastructure remains highly vulnerable to impacts from any tropical system.
Dorian’s future track will take it into the southeastern Bahamas as a tropical storm on Friday, and it is forecast to work its way up the island chain. Then it is expected to make landfall somewhere along the Florida east coast as a strong tropical storm or weak hurricane Saturday night or early Sunday. As expected, computer models show a spread as to Dorian’s track 4 or 5 days out, but South Florida remains in the “cone.” For all of us in South Florida, now is the time to review your hurricane plan and make sure you have what you need in your hurricane kit. Check your shutters to make sure you have all the fasteners you’ll need if it becomes necessary to put them up — all of these are common-sense actions as we enter the heart of the hurricane season. And check on the progress of Dorian regularly to see where it’s headed and if watches or warnings are issued for your area later this week.
Elsewhere in the tropics, the disturbance that we’ve been watching for some time is now Tropical Depression # 6. At 5 am Monday, TD # 6 was located near 31.0 North, 71.6 West, and was crawling southeast at 2 miles per hour. Maximum sustained winds were 35 miles per hour. The depression is expected to meander between Bermuda and the U.S. east coast before accelerating toward the Canadian Maritime provinces and Newfoundland on Friday and early on Saturday.
