The NBC2 First Alert Hurricane Tracking team is monitoring a trend of higher rain chances in our community over the next seven days as tropical moisture moves into the Gulf of Mexico.
The influx of tropical moisture over the next week is being highlighted as an area to monitor in the Gulf of Mexico by the National Hurricane Center.
In the area shaded in with yellow below, the NHC says the odds of at least a tropical depression forming are at 30%. This is a drop of 10% as compared to earlier in the week.
Regardless of development, what appears to be the most likely outcome for Southwest Florida from this system is an uptick in rain coverage starting as early as this weekend and then continuing into early next week.
Forecast data suggests over the course of the next week many parts of our area will see between 3 and 7" of rain. It's important to stress that these rainfall figures are over the next seven days and subject to change as conditions evolve.
Outside of the area we're watching over the Gulf of Mexico there are two active systems in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The strongest of the systems is Hurricane Kirk.
Kirk is forecast to become a major hurricane on Thursday as it moves west-northwestward across the open Atlantic Ocean.
Because of its location and movement, Kirk doesn't appear to be a threat to land.
Though this system is likely to become a tropical storm soon, it's expected that the same steering currents keeping Kirk away from the United States will do the same with this one.
Count on the NBC2 First Alert Hurricane Team to keep you updated on any potential tropical threats.
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