Invest 91L to become tropical storm or hurricane as millions along Gulf Coast prepare for potential impacts
The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Watches could be required for portions of southern Texas later Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening, and additional watches are possible along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana later Sunday night or early Monday.
Tropical storm expected to form in Gulf of Mexico within days
The National Hurricane Center says Invest 91L, which has been swirling in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, is likely to become a tropical storm in the next day or two putting millions of people along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida on alert for potential impacts.
Update as of 5 p.m. ET on Sept. 8, 2024: Invest 91L strengthened to Potential Tropical Cyclone Six. Click here to get the latest on Potential Tropical Cyclone Six.
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HOUSTON – Invest 91L continues to become better organized as the tropical disturbance swirls across the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, and forecasters warn that the system will likely develop into Tropical Storm or Hurricane Francine in the coming days as millions along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida prepare for potential impacts.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) designated the tropical disturbance as Invest 91L on Saturday, which allows the agency to run additional computer models to calculate potential storm development and its track.
The system has spent more than a week making its journey across the Atlantic as a tropical disturbance, clinging to a disorganized cluster of showers and thunderstorms as it struggled to find conditions conducive for further development.
Invest 91L likely to become tropical storm or hurricane this week
(FOX Weather)
The NHC said Invest 91L continues to produce a large area of showers and thunderstorms, and while satellite-derived winds show the system doesn’t yet have a well-defined center, it is producing winds of 40-45 mph on its western side.
"Environmental conditions appear conducive for additional development, and a tropical storm is expected to form during the next day or so," the NHC said in a Sunday afternoon update.
Invest 91L is forecast to move generally to the northwest and then north near or along the Gulf coasts of Mexico, Texas and Louisiana, with additional strengthening possible by the middle of the week.
The NHC said people living, working or traveling along the Gulf Coast should closely monitor the progress of this system.
Tropical Storm Watches could be required for portions of southern Texas later Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening, and additional watches are possible along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana later Sunday night or early Monday.
As of Sunday afternoon, Invest 91L has a high chance of developing in the next few days.
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Invest 92L slowly gaining traction in central Atlantic
A trough of low pressure that was barely clinging to tropical relevance in the central Atlantic has perked back up again, at least according to the long-range development odds given by the NHC.
(FOX Weather)
The NHC said showers and thunderstorms associated with Invest 92L over the central tropical Atlantic are continuing to show signs of gradual organization.
Environmental conditions appear conducive for additional development of Invest 92L, and a tropical depression could form while the system spins over the central Atlantic through the beginning of the new workweek, and then generally moves west through the rest of the week.
The NHC is giving Invest 92L a high chance of developing.
Third area to watch in eastern Atlantic
A third area to watch is now posted in the eastern Atlantic with a trough of low pressure located several hundred miles east-southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands, the NHC said.
(FOX Weather)
According to the NHC, this tropical disturbance is expected to move very little over the next few days until it potentially interacts with a tropical disturbance that is forecast to move off the western coast of Africa early this week.
Environmental conditions are expected to be favorable for further development, and a tropical depression could form in the middle or latter part of the week.
The NHC is giving this tropical disturbance a medium chance of developing over the next week.