Tropical Storm Fiona is wobbling west-northwest at 10 mph, with sustained winds at 45 mph.
- Fiona expected to pick up speed this weekend
- Fiona is not a threat to Florida
Fiona is forecast to pick up speed this weekend as it continues on the current path. As the storm crosses cooler waters and encounters drier air and wind shear aloft, we are expecting it to weaken to tropical depression status. It’ll begin turning northwestward thanks to a weakening ridge of high pressure to its north, and looks like it will eventually brush east of Bermuda.
We’ve turned our attention to a more vigorous low south of Fiona. Invest-99 is being watched closely because it will be working into a more favorable environment for development over the weekend. It’s currently moving west, and could become a tropical depression east of the Lesser Antilles early next week. Models vary greatly beyond the weekend, but if it makes the Caribbean, we’ll need to watch it closely here in Florida. Another wave coming off the coast of Africa runs a low chance of tropical development near the Cabo Verde Islands, but may eventually push across a more favorable area.
Central Florida Weather: None of these systems pose a threat to land right now, but we’ll monitor Invest-99 as it makes headway across the central Atlantic over the weekend. Fiona will NOT impact us.
Confidence: Models are in good agreement regarding Fiona, keeping it out over the open waters of the Atlantic and eventually turning it northwest. High confidence this storm will have no impact on Florida. Disagreements in the models for Invest-99 make this one difficult to pin down so far in advance, but needs to be watched.