A Tropical Storm Is Poised to Menace Florida’s West Coast This Weekend

(Bloomberg) -- Florida’s West Coast is bracing for a potential tropical storm this weekend as a system gathers strength in the Atlantic near Cuba.

The system is forecast to cross Cuba Friday before threatening Florida on Saturday and Sunday as a tropical storm, the National Hurricane Center said in an 11 a.m. New York time advisory. With winds of 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour, the storm was centered about 420 miles southeast of Key West, Florida.

If it continues to strengthen, the system will be named Tropical Storm Debby, the fourth storm of the 2024 Atlantic season. On its current forecast track, it will be too far to the east to disrupt offshore oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, but it’s expected to bring flooding rains across Florida and possibly into Georgia and the Carolinas. 

Forecasters are predicting a hyperactive hurricane season as unusually warm ocean waters help storms get stronger, while the weather pattern known as La Niña could take hold later in the year and curb wind conditions that inhibit tropical activity,

Since Debby’s forecast track is almost parallel to the west coast of the Florida Peninsula and the southeast coast of the US, only a small change in the track could lead a significant variation in which areas bear the brunt of the impact, the hurricane center said.

Listen on Zero: Climate Change Is ‘Loading the Weather Dice Against Us’

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.