A tropical depression
in the southwestern Caribbean Sea might turn into a Category 1 hurricane this weekend — and possibly come ashore in Florida’s Panhandle.
A tropical depression in the southwestern Caribbean Sea may approach the Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane this weekend, according the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
It’s too early to know exactly where the storm will hit, but people along the coast from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana should keep checking forecasts over the next two days.
It’s also too soon to tell what might happen in Central Florida this weekend.
“It’s way too early to know what, if anything, it’s going to do here, what, if any, impacts we might see,” said Kevin Rodriguez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
As of Wednesday evening at 5 p.m., the hurricane center had the storm headed toward the Panhandle, but that ighrchange.
Meteorologists will likely have a better idea of what to expect by today or Friday.
“It’s gonna have speed with it,” Rodriguez said. “This is not going to be a slow-moving storm.”
Kelly Godsey, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Tallahassee, said much uncertainty remains about the track of the storm.
“We could see a track that goes as far west as Louisiana and as far east as the west coast of the Florida peninsula,” he said Wednesday.
“So, it is a fairly wide area at this point. That’s another good reason why we need to be prepared and get stuff ready if the storm does zero in on the Florida Panhandle and the Florida Big Bend.”
Regardless of the storm’s track, people should check their hurricane kits and make sure they replenish any supplies used during Hurricane Irma, Rodriguez said. “It’s always good to be prepared,” he said. As of Wednesday afternoon, Tropical Depression 16 was about 70 miles off the coast of Nicaragua.
It was moving northwest at 7 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It could become a tropical storm overnight, meteorologists said.
The system is expected to move northwest toward the coast of Nicaragua, then enter the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend.
The system is expected to produce heavy rains over some parts of Central America in the next few days, the weather service says. Flash floods and mudslides are likely.
Forecast models show the system hitting the United States anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to near New Orleans.
Gov. Rick Scott said Florida’s Division of Emergency Management is monitoring the system.
“This storm has the potential to become a hurricane and impact the Florida Panhandle this weekend, and families must be ready,” the governor said in a prepared statement.
“Let’s remember, we are still in the heart of hurricane season, and, while it’s hard to imagine experiencing another storm right now, everyone has to be prepared.” The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.