A new storm brewing in the Atlantic has a “good chance” of taking Nadine’s place over the weekend, hurricane experts have warned.
The storm, named Invest A95L, could hit Central America and Mexico on Saturday, causing heavy rain and possible flooding in the area.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported Friday that there is a 50 percent chance that it could become a tropical depression or Tropical Storm Nadine in the next 48 hours.
“A short-lived depression or tropical storm could form before the system moves inland over Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Saturday,” the agency reported.
Environmental conditions in the northwest Caribbean Sea could help the storm become “better defined” as it passes north of eastern Honduras.
Forecasters have suggested the storm “will likely end with a decent chance of naming and forming Nadine (95L) late Friday or Saturday morning.”
This comes after Storm A94L, previously predicted to become Nadine, appeared to fade into the Atlantic this week.
Forecasters have warned that another storm in the Atlantic could become Tropical Storm Nadine this weekend.
The chances of 95L becoming a tropical storm increased as of Friday morning thanks to upper-level high pressure developing over the area.
High pressure at upper levels removes heat from a storm by moving air outward, reducing pressure and increasing wind speed.
When the wind speed reaches 60 miles per hour, it becomes a tropical storm and would later be named Nadine.
Currently, the storm has reached wind speeds of 30 to 35 miles and will likely continue to increase until it makes landfall tonight into tomorrow, according to a Weather in Fox analysis.
Anthony Duarte, Univision meteorologist, said that ‘regardless of the development, heavy rains are expected over Central America, Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula and southern Mexico over the weekend.
“This could cause dangerous landslides on higher ground.”
Forecasters reported that the potential Nadine would be a “short-lived” tropical storm and is not expected to affect Florida, which is still recovering from hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The storm is headed for Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and has a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical storm in the next 48 hours.
Fox Weather hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross said drier atmospheric conditions looming 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 reasonably well-defined but broad circulation,” Norcross saying.
“But dry air has not allowed storms to organize and persist, which in turn would restrict circulation, requirements for tropical depression designation.”
The NHC is still tracking 94L and reported that it will still reach the northeastern Caribbean islands, but its slow development will prevent it from becoming a tropical storm.
“Showers and storms associated with a low-pressure trough located a few hundred kilometers east of the Leeward Islands remain disorganized,” the NHC said in an update Thursday.
“Some slow development is possible over the next few days as the disturbance moves rapidly west to west-northwest at about 20 mph,” the agency added.
The storm should pass near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Friday, then near Hispaniola and the southeastern Bahamas on Saturday.
Norcross advised people to still stay informed about 94L and said it will reach the islands today and continue toward the southeastern Bahamas, Haiti or eastern Cuba.
“It is unclear whether the system will be identifiable at that time, but it will draw tropical moisture onto the mountainous islands, creating the potential for flooding. and landslides.’
While the chances of storm system AL94 becoming the next named storm are decreasing, the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is far from over, experts warn.
The season lasts until November 30 and conditions are still favorable for storm formation.