Weather

Tropical Storm Chantal over Atlantic; monitoring tropical wave closer to Florida

By Irene Sans, WFTV.com

Wednesday morning: Tropical wave over the Central Bahamas has a 20% chance of developing over the next 5 days.

By Irene Sans, WFTV.com
The third named tropical system of the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season, Chantal, formed over the open Atlantic late Tuesday.
This system has been fighting all the odds to survive as a tropical system. First, the latitude. Chantal formed at 40.2ºN, the highest latitude in which a system has formed since Alberto in 1988. Usually in this area the waters are much cooler and don’t feed tropical storms well so that they can intensify. By the time storms are in these latitudes, they often become extra-tropical and lose their tropical qualities.

Chantal's latest track

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Wednesday's local weather forecast: Temperatures rise, scattered storms possible
WHERE IS IT HEADING?
Nowhere. Chantal is not threatening land. Its closest land location is Nova Scotia at about 540 miles to its southeast and it is moving away from it. The tropical system is forecast to stay over the open Atlantic with tropical storm force winds at 40 mph through Thursday. After Thursday, Chantal is forecast to debilitate to a depression, dissipating during the weekend, at the latest.
WATCHING ANOTHER TROPICAL WAVE NEAR FLORIDA
As expected, the tropics are starting to show more signs of awakening. A tropical wave is located over the central and northwestern Bahamas, but still very disorganized. It is producing deep thunderstorms. There is a 20 percent chance that this wave could develop within the next 5 days. The current forecast calls for this wave to continue to move toward Florida, then curving parallel to the southeastern coast of the U.S.
WILL IT IMPACT FLORIDA? 
The system is currently forecast to stay very disorganized as it approaches Florida. Impacts to Florida include gusty winds, beach erosion and increases rain chances this upcoming weekend. 

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We will continue to monitor its development. Currently, this tropical wave is near an area of strong wind shear, but the shear is forecast to relax a bit in the coming days. We will continue to monitor this situation and bring you the latest on Eyewitness News, wftv.com and through our WFTV Weather app.
Remember we have officially entered the heart of hurricane season, and this is the time to be prepared. Have a plan ready so if/when a storm threatens you will know what to do and have your supplies ready.
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