MIAMI — Our first tropical storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season could form on Tuesday.
The National Hurricane Center said Potential Tropical Cyclone One, located in the Gulf of Mexico, has an 80% chance of strengthening into a tropical storm over the next two days.
If it becomes a tropical storm, its name will be Alberto.
WPTV First Alert Weather meteorologist Steve Villanueva said that, regardless of development, this one is heading into Mexico and will not impact us in South Florida.
"It's expected to spin up into a tropical cyclone and then make a run into Mexico, spreading very heavy rain from northern Mexico into southern Texas," Villanueva said.
Right behind Potential Tropical Cyclone One, another system in the Gulf of Mexico may develop in that same area. The National Hurricane Center is giving that second one a 20% chance for now. It, too, will not impact South Florida.
However, locally, we continue to watch a trough of lower pressure just to our east. As that works its way north of the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center is giving it a 20% chance of developing. That's down from 30% yesterday.
Villanueva said models are not doing much with this system. It is expected to work its way up toward Jacksonville. Locally, it will increase the amount of tropical moisture in the atmosphere. So that means our rain chances will be increasing.
"We're gonna have a lot of moisture pumping on into South Florida," WPTV First Alert Weather meteorologist Steve Villanueva said. "So as a result, our rain chances will be increasing."
WPTV Villanueva said rain chances will be their highest on Wednesday and Thursday, and we're also expecting scattered thunderstorms over the weekend.
