Hurricane Rafael has already made it's closest pass by Southwest Florida's coast and is now pulling away from the sunshine state.
Rafael remains a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 105 mph. Rafael is forecast to hold on to its Category 2 strength until the storm gets into the central part of the Gulf of Mexico where the storm will struggle in a more unfavorable environment.
Computer model forecasts are in remarkable agreement that Rafael will continue moving away from Southwest Florida.
However, there's still a lot of tropical air over the area, which could spark some coastal showers this evening.
Rain totals will be minimal, generally less than a quarter inch.
Drier air moves in behind Rafael Friday as the storm heads for the central Gulf of Mexico, leaving us with sunny and dry weather to end the week.
Elsewhere in the tropics, an area of low pressure could develop near the northern Leeward Islands in a couple of days. Some slow development of this system is possible during the latter part of the week while it generally moves westward over the southwestern Atlantic.
Currently, the NHC gives this feature a low chance for tropical development, but it's possible some extra tropical moisture will increase our rain chances by late this weekend.
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