(VOR News) – The National Hurricane Center did not believe that Tropical Storm Milton posed a direct threat to the Texas Gulf Coast, despite the fact that it formed in the southwest of the Gulf of Mexico.
Rather, the forecasts predicted that the system would travel eastward, gain strength in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and then make its way near the western side of the Florida Peninsula as a tropical storm or maybe a major hurricane.
The storm was designated as a tropical depression by the hurricane center, which is the least powerful kind of tropical cyclone. This designation was announced earlier in the morning on Saturday.
As of 1:00 PM on Saturday, satellite wind data showed that maximum sustained wind speeds had reached 40 mph. This suggests that Tropical Storm Milton developed from a Tropical Storm Cyclone.
Tropical storms become hurricanes when they reach 74mph.
When the greatest wind speed is higher than 110 miles per hour, there is a major hurricane.
At 1:00 PM on Saturday, the center of Tropical Depression 14 was situated roughly 220 miles to the north-northeast of Veracruz, Mexico. With maximum sustained winds of forty miles per hour, the system was traveling three miles per hour in a north-northeast direction. In 2024, the Atlantic hurricane season will feature thirteen named storms, with this one being the thirteenth.
The National Hurricane Center announced on Saturday that there were no watches or advisories in force for the Gulf of Mexico’s coastal areas.
On the other hand, experts predicted that as early as Sunday, hurricane and Tropical Storm surge watches would be needed for a few locations along the Florida Peninsula’s west coast.
The upper Texas Gulf Coast region close to Houston is only predicted to see sporadic showers and coastal rainfall. The main source of these showers and rains is predicted to be an inflow of air that is high in moisture from offshore.
The Southeast Texas office of the National Weather Service issued a warning concerning the presence of dangerous rip currents along beaches that front the Gulf of Mexico.
In keeping with its easterly motion, the National Weather Service said on Saturday that “we should continue to see isolated to scattered activity (associated with this feature) develop and move across our coastal waters and southernmost counties today.”
“We could see showers/isolated storms reach as far north as the I-10 corridor through the afternoon hours,” the service added.
What surprises does the Tropical Storm system hold for us?
It seemed as unlikely as thirty percent that a Tropical Storm cyclone would emerge just two days ago. But over the last twenty-four hours, a variety of favorable factors—such as low vertical wind shear, unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, and other favorable conditions—have accelerated the development of the system.
Analysts from the hurricane center said on Saturday that they expect a slow movement in the direction of the northeast or east-northeast within the next day or so. “By Monday and Tuesday, it is anticipated that the motion will pick up speed and move from east-northeast to northeast.”
Tropical Depression 14 is expected to linger in the southwest portion of the Gulf of Mexico through Sunday night, according to forecasters. On Monday and Tuesday, meanwhile, as it approaches the southern portion of the Gulf of Mexico, it will quickly intensify.
The Hurricane Center said in its Saturday forecast that “the depression is forecast to become a tropical storm later today and a hurricane by early Monday.” This forecast was issued prior to the cyclone moving toward the Florida Peninsula’s west coast around midweek.
Forecasters believe the Tropical Storm has the potential to strengthen into a powerful hurricane as it moves across the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico.
This storm would be the second significant hurricane to hit Florida in less than a month, coming just a few weeks after Hurricane Helene’s destructive impact on northern Florida on September 26.
This storm would be the second significant hurricane to hit Florida in less than a month if the forecast proves correct.
SOURCE: HC
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