SYSTEM TO BRING RAIN AND GUSTS THIS WEEKEND
Disturbance could bring wind, rain for most of week, forecasters say.
Though many people are still trying to fix homes damaged by Hurricane Irma, stormy weather isn’t cutting South Florida much of a break.
A large tropical disturbance stretching from the northwest Caribbean Sea to South Florida has about a 40 percent chance of developing into a more organized storm, the National Weather Service said Friday.
Count on plenty of rain and gusts this weekend in any case, with rain chances 50 percent or higher at least through Thursday in West Palm Beach.
Forecasters warned of a moderate risk of rip currents on all Atlantic beaches and seas up to 7 feet offshore, noting swells pri-
marily off Palm Beach County on Friday evening.
“There’s a threat of heavy rainfall,” said Chuck Caracozza, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Miami. “Some areas could see minor street flooding.”
The National Weather Service puts the chance of rain up to 60 percent today in West Palm Beach with up to a quarter-inch of precipitation, possibly more in thunderstorms. The high is expected near 87 degrees.
Sunday brings a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms and gusts up to 24 mph.
The disturbance is expected to move northwest toward Florida’s west coast during the weekend, but nasty weather could linger most of the week.
“Regardless of development, a stormy period is expected to continue across South Florida through the upcoming weekend with the potential for periods of heavy rainfall leading to localized flooding, along with gusty winds,” an advisory said.
Meanwhile, it’s not the only system on the map in a region already struggling to recover from major hurricane damage.
A tropical wave is producing cloudiness and showers over the northeastern Caribbean Sea and moving generally northwest, in South Florida’s direction.
“Although there are no signs of organization and surface pressures are not falling at this time, conditions could become a little more favorable for some development next week while the system moves toward the west-north-
west,” the National Weather Service said.
The system is given a 20 percent chance to develop into a more organized storm in the next five days, though there’s little chance of strengthening in the next two days. Still, it is expected to bring locally heavy rains to places already devastated by hurricanes Irma and Maria, including the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Hurricane season runs June 1 through Nov. 30.
The 2017 season has produced the longest-running Category 5 storm on record, Irma. It also marked the first time two storms — Harvey and Irma — made U.S. land- fall as Category 4 storms.
Irma roared ashore in the Florida Keys with 130 mph top sustained winds. Harvey hit Rockport, Texas, with 130 mph winds.