Northern Gulf Coast faces Bertha and Southwest Florida faces rising temps

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (WINK) — WINK News Weather Authority meteorologists are tracking Tropical Storm Bertha in the northeast Gulf as it slowly tracks away from Southwest Florida.

As Bertha continues to put a little distance between our coastline and its center, we'll start seeing improving conditions across town.

However, this means as skies clear, temperatures will ramp up again with our warmest days this week expected on Thursday and Friday.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, we'll see a small slug of moisture wander in from the Atlantic coast of the South Florida peninsula.

As the afternoon wears on, some shallow rain and storms could develop, but should be limited thanks to high-pressure ridging building in behind tropical storm Bertha.

Thursday

Thursday and Friday will give way to even greater bouts of dry air pushing in over the viewing area, meaning we'll see diminishing winds and rain chances. These will be our warmest days, as a dome of warm air finally settles in directly overhead at least temporarily.

Late Friday into early morning Saturday, we're tracking a leftover tropical wave and an upper-level low moving in tandem westward.

We'll see rain chances try to climb back up again for the end of the week into the weekend, and temperatures subside by a touch thanks to building cloud cover and a greater chance you get some rainfall in your area.

Tropics

As of Tuesday's 5 p.m. National Hurricane Center advisory: Bertha hasn't changed much aside from the forward speed, which has increased slightly.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, is moving northwest at 6 mph, and has a minimum central pressure of 995 mb. Bertha is forecast to make landfall in Louisiana tomorrow.

Bertha is continuing to suffer the side effects of dry air and wind shear, cutting down the storm quite a bit, leaving the north side just about completely empty. The key to the forecast is whether there are any additional wobbles in the center as it approaches Mississippi and Louisiana.

This will heavily dictate the wave heights and surge potential we see at the shores of both states. The tropical storm force winds will also move further inland, pending when we see it run aground, as the center unravels, allowing the wind field to begin reaching a greater distance. 

WINK News Weather Authority meteorologists are tracking the latest in the tropics as Tropical Storm Bertha tracks away from Southwest Florida. You can find the latest forecast in our tropical article online, on TV on WINK News and on the WINK Weather App.