Update as of 2pm Friday:
Two new tropical depressions are likely to form late this weekend or early next week in the western Gulf and eastern Atlantic. Neither are forecast to affect the Southeast U.S. coastline through next Wednesday.
A tropical wave near Belize is expected to reach the far southwest Gulf of Mexico on Saturday. It is likely to have enough time to develop into a depression or named storm before moving inland on Monday over Mexico or far south Texas. A strong tropical wave is emerging from the coast of Africa and it, too, has a high chance of becoming a depression or named storm Sunday or Monday. The next two names on the list are "Nicholas" and "Odette".
September 10th marks the statistical peak of the hurricane season. So far, 13 named storms, 5 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes have formed. This activity, so far, is about 150 percent of the historical average through this date. Forecasts issued early in the season were calling for above average tropical storm and hurricane activity.
Original story from Thursday morning:
What was once Tropical Storm Mindy is moving away from the Southeast U.S. coastline, leaving the coastline free of direct effects from tropical systems this weekend.
Mindy made landfall on St. Vincent Island, Florida, at 9:15pm ET/8:15pm CT, just to the southwest of Apalachicola and about 75 miles from Tallahassee. Top sustained winds were near 45 mph at the time of landfall according to a statement from the National Hurricane Center. Wind gusts as high as 57 mph were reported on the St. George Island Bridge around the time of landfall.
Mindy was downgraded to a depression early Thursday morning and it is moving into the Atlantic near Savannah and Hilton Head. The depression is still bringing heavy rain to coastal South Carolina and Georgia, but conditions are expected to improve in these areas late Thursday afternoon once Mindy moves farther away from the coast.
Hurricane Larry weakened to a category 2 storm on Wednesday and is expected to pass east of Bermuda Thursday afternoon. The storm's large size has generated swell that is reaching most of the east coast of the United States. The swell is contributing to a high risk of rip currents along the coast, which is likely to continue on Friday. Some risk of rip currents is likely to continue into the weekend, but the swell is expected to gradually diminish as Larry moves toward Atlantic Canada.
There are two other areas that meteorologists are monitoring for possible tropical development: the first is a tropical wave near the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua. It is expected to emerge in the far southwestern Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and could develop into a depression or named storm before making landfall in Mexico early next week. The second tropical wave is about to move off the coast of Africa. It, too, has a chance of becoming a depression or named storm by early next week. Both of these systems do not presently pose a threat to the United States coastline over the next five days.
