Tropical Storm Dorian likely to form off coast this weekend

National Hurricane Center should upgrade system to storm soon

It is very likely the National Hurricane Center will upgrade this to a depression very soon and then to Tropical Storm Dorian by Sunday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The low pressure just off the coast of South Florida now designated 98L is becoming much better organized and on the verge of becoming a tropical depression.

The system was just east of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale on Friday afternoon.

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What happens next? The most likely situation is that the National Hurricane Center will send out a Potential Tropical Cyclone alert late Friday or very early Saturday morning.

The good news is that the bulk of the bad weather is classically on the eastern-half (over the Atlantic Ocean). The bad weather consists of heavy bands of rain and winds gusting to 30 mph.

Meanwhile, on the western-half, along the Florida peninsula, there are swirling bands of brief, yet intense showers and thundershowers. These bands of rain are blowing onshore (coming onshore with northeast winds) are very brief downpours but are associated with gusty winds to 30 mph.

Central and South Florida are being directly impacted by these breezy downpours. They will see 1-3 inches of rain, the rains are not concentrated areas of rain, but rather repeated bands of rains. 

Splash and sun, then splash and sun

Keep this in mind if you are heading towards Orlando for the big college football game Saturday night (Florida vs Miami starts at 7 pm), this is the type of weather you should expect.

For Jacksonville, we are likely to see a similar pattern, but not as wet. This includes for the Publix Bold City Showcase, the three high school football games (back to back to back) at Bolles on Saturday.

The Publix Bold City Showcase is Saturday (all-day)

These brief showers and gusty Northeast winds will help cut the heat we have had the past few days.

Dorian forms late Saturday?

By later Saturday, the system will likely be named Dorian and this tropical storm will move up the East Coast of the Southeastern United States. It is possible it could become a hurricane by the time it passes off the Outer Banks of North Carolina late Monday.