A new storm brewing in the Atlantic Ocean has a “good chance” of taking Nadine’s place this weekend, hurricane experts have warned.
The storm, named Invest A95L, could hit Central America and Mexico on Saturday, bringing heavy rain and possible flooding.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported Friday that there is a 50 percent chance it could become a tropical depression or Tropical Storm Nadine in the next 48 hours.
“A short-lived tropical depression or storm could form before the system moves inland over Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Saturday,” the agency reported.
Environmental conditions in the northwestern Caribbean Sea could help the storm become “better defined” as it crosses north of eastern Honduras.
Meteorologists have suggested the storm “will likely end with a fair shot at Nadine (95L), which will be named and formed Friday evening or Saturday morning.”
This comes after Storm A94L, previously predicted to become Nadine, appeared to dissipate into the Atlantic Ocean this week.
Meteorologists have warned that a new storm in the Atlantic Ocean could develop into Tropical Storm Nadine this weekend
The chances of 95L becoming a tropical storm increased as of Friday morning thanks to high pressure developing over the area.
Upper-level high pressure removes a storm’s heat by moving air outward, lowering pressure and increasing wind speed.
When winds reach 38 miles per hour, it moves into a tropical storm category and is then named Nadine.
The storm has currently reached wind speeds of 30 to 35 miles and will likely continue to strengthen until it makes landfall tonight into tomorrow, according to a Fox again analysis.
Anthony Duarte, a meteorologist for Univision, said that “regardless of development, heavy rain is expected this weekend in Central America, Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula and southern Mexico.”
“This could cause dangerous mudslides on higher ground.”
Meteorologists reported that the potential Nadine would be a “short-lived” tropical storm and is not expected to impact Florida, which is still recovering from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The storm is heading toward Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and has a 50 percent chance of developing into a tropical storm within the next 48 hours.
Fox Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross said drier atmospheric conditions over Florida and the Gulf of Mexico should protect the Sunshine State from tropical storm threats for the foreseeable future.
“The disturbance still has a fairly well-defined but broad circulation,” Norcross said.
“But the dry air has prevented thunderstorms from organizing and sustaining, which would in turn constrict the circulation – the requirements for the tropical depression designation.”
The NHC is still monitoring 94L and reports that it will still reach the northeastern Caribbean islands, but its slow development will prevent it from developing into a tropical storm.
“Showers and thunderstorms associated with a low-pressure trough a few hundred kilometers east of the Leeward Islands remain unorganized,” the NHC said in an update on Thursday.
“Slow development is possible over the next few days as the disturbance moves rapidly westward to west-northwestward, around 30 km per hour,” the agency added.
The storm should pass the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Friday, and Hispaniola and the southeastern Bahamas on Saturday.
Norcross said people are still staying informed about 94L and said it will reach the islands today and continue to the southeastern Bahamas, Haiti or eastern Cuba.
‘It is not clear whether the system will be identifiable by then, but it will draw tropical moisture over the mountainous islands, raising the possibility of flooding. and mudslides.’
While the chances that storm system AL94 will become the next named storm are diminishing, the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is far from over, experts warn.
The season runs through November 30 and conditions are still favorable for storm formation.