Fiona Headed Out to Sea; Invest 99-L Needs to be Monitored Closely

Tropical storm Fiona is still alive but is not a threat and will head out to sea. However, newly declared invest 99l –  a tropical wave over the Eastern Tropical Atlantic – will not.

Tropical Storm Fiona

As of the 5:00pm EDT advisory Tropical Storm Fiona was located over the Tropical Atlantic at 16.7 degrees north and 40.9 degrees west. Maximum sustained winds were 45 miles per hour, the minimum central pressure was 1006 millibars, and movement was northwest at 10 miles per hour.

Forecast For Fiona

Tropical Storm Fiona is expected to continue moving northwest over the next five days. Some additional strengthening is expected. Fiona is expected to reach peak intensity tomorrow with winds of  50 miles per hour.

However, Fiona will encounter unfavorable environmental conditions by late tomorrow and Saturday causing it to weaken.

A break in the ridge of high pressure over the Subtropical Atlantic will allow a weakening Fiona to head out to sea without impacting any land masses.

Invest 99-L

Newly declared invest 99-l was located over the far Eastern Tropical Atlantic at 10.7 degrees north and 27.1 degrees west as of 8:00pm CDT today. Maximum sustained winds were 25 miles per hour, the minimum pressure was 1009 millibars, and movement was to the west.

Forecast For 99-L

Unfortunately, invest 99-l is forecast to track west across the Tropical Atlantic over the next 5 days; and it appears conditions will be conductive for gradual development.

99-L willtrack into the Eastern Caribbean Sea by mid to late week next week. However, it remains to be seen how strong it will be or if it will even be a tropical cyclone at that time.

gfs 25
18Z GFS run initialized Thursday, August 18th, 2016  valid Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Although, at this time 99-L’s chances of development appear relatively high. Most of the model guidance forecasts 99-L to develop into a tropical storm or depression on Monday or Tuesday prior to entering the Eastern Caribbean.

It is to early to speculate beyond that.

Summary

In a nut shell, invest 99-l will likely develop into a tropical cyclone early next week before entering the Eastern Caribbean Sea mid-week.  It remains to be seen if whatever 99-l becomes will impact any other landmasses outside of the Eastern Caribbean Sea.

The National Hurricane Center placed 99-L’s development odds at 40% over the next five days in their 8:00pm EDT tropical weather outlook.

Wave Behind 99-L Could Also Develop

Another tropical wave is expected to emerge off of the African Coast on Saturday. It will have a decent chance of developing as well. However, at the moment all indications are it will head out to sea.

The National Hurricane Center gave it a 30% chance of developing into a tropical cyclone within the next 5 days in their 8:00pm EDT tropical weather outlook.

We will have another update out tomorrow.

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Caleb Carmichael
Caleb Carmichael

Caleb is the owner of Gulf Coast Storm Center. He is currently an undergraduate student at Mississippi State University majoring in geoscience with a concentration in broadcast and operational meteorology. While not yet a meteorologist, Caleb has been providing weather updates, news, and analysis for the Gulf Coast since 2014.

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