Bryan Norcross: Hurricane season likely to come to an end after Sara winds down
By Monday, Tropical Storm Sara will have dissipated in the extreme southern Gulf of Mexico, and a series of cold fronts will be pushing toward Florida to change the season. The first real taste of winter will arrive in the Sunshine State around midweek.
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Updated Saturday 10:45 a.m. ET
The end of Hurricane Season 2024 is in sight. By Monday, Tropical Storm Sara will have dissipated in the extreme southern Gulf of Mexico, and a series of cold fronts will be pushing toward Florida to change the season. The first real taste of winter will arrive in the Sunshine State around midweek.
In honesty, another weirdo-named storm could still form out in the Atlantic from a non-tropical system. But for our purposes, it's likely over.
The people in Honduras and the nearby countries in Central America are still suffering, however. Tropical Storm Sara has stalled near the northern Honduran coast. A fire hose of tropical moisture is aimed at the northwestern part of the country, and the heavy rain is impacting Belize and other countries as well.
Two feet of rain are forecast over a wide area in Honduras, with some spots receiving 3 feet. Areas in Belize are forecast to measure more than a foot. Catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides will continue into the weekend.
Since a good part of Sara's circulation is over mountainous terrain in Honduras, the system is not expected to intensify very much as it tracks toward Belize tomorrow. It's likely to come ashore as a low-end tropical storm and then move inland, weaken, and die out around Monday. The big threat will continue to be from the heavy rain.
The remnants of Sara, including some of its tropical moisture, will stream north on Monday and meet up with an approaching cold front around the Florida Panhandle by Tuesday. The combination is forecast to produce heavy rain in a band that sweeps across the Panhandle and down the state Tuesday and Wednesday. Tropical downpours with gusty winds are expected. Some tornadoes are possible.
The air behind the front is the coolest of the year. The combination of the tropical air and some energy from ex-Sara could produce some vigorous storms, especially in North and Central Florida.
Another stronger cold front pushing south around Thursday will sweep up the leftover moisture and have everybody from the Panhandle to the Keys breaking out the coats and sweaters.
Don’t forget about our friends in Central America being pounded by a stationary storm as we wait out these last few days of Hurricane Season 2024.