A tropical wave is set to cross Florida later this week after bringing punishing downpours to the Caribbean.
Fuelled by warm waters and low wind, storms in this year’s hurricane season are beginning to track towards the United States and nearby islands.
The wave follows tropical storm Florence, which has Bermuda in its sight.
What will happen to the tropical system?
Tropical waves are areas of high humidity and unstable atmosphere which are known to cause widespread showers and thunderstorms.
The tropical wave has already begun to form across the Caribbean this week, plunging the islands under a blanket of torrential rain.
Now, the wave is expected to gain strength as it advances towards the Mexican Gulf.
The National Hurricane Centre (NHC), a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has noted that the wave is becoming more “organised” as it enters the Gulf.
This means that the wave is already progressing towards heavier wind and rain as it nears Florida.
The NHC predicts that the tropical wave will become a low-threat tropical depression within the next day, progressing across the northwestern Bahamas, southern Florida, and the Florida Keys.
For those in Florida, this could mean that Labor day celebrations are put on hold as rains scatter across the state.
By Tuesday, the storm is expected to produce local gusty winds and rain.
The northern Gulf coast may see a tropical storm warning as early as tonight as the wave continues to organise itself.
The NHC has put the chances of a storm emerging within the next 48 hours as high, with a value of 70 percent.
In the next five days, the NHC has provided a 90 percent chance that a tropical storm will take shape as a result of the wave.
Commonly, roughly 60 percent of Atlantic tropical cyclones are borne from these tropical waves, alongside 85 percent of intense Atlantic hurricanes (Category 3+ on the Saffir-Simpson scale).
What other storms are currently forming?
Tropical storm Florence has become a fully-fledged but weak tropical storm currently residing in the Atlantic ocean over 600 miles north of Cape Verde.
At the moment, Florence’s 50 mph winds are doing little more than whipping up major waves in the ocean, with shipping routes most in danger.
However, with a north westerly direction, the system could soon target Bermuda.
As Florence moves over warmer water, the storm could begin to gather steam, and keeping the right trajectory could see Bermuda in the path of a much larger threat.