ATLANTA-- Just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, Mother Nature is throwing a wrench in the plans of folks headed to the Gulf Coast.
An area of low pressure or disorganized showers and thunderstorm activity currently near the Yucatan will certainly bring heavy and continuous showers and storms to most of the Gulf Coast this weekend and early next week.
This area of low pressure is also being monitored for the potential of a tropical depression developing. A tropical depression is one of the first stages in the development of a tropical cyclone which may eventually lead to a hurricane.
At this time, the National Hurricane Center(NHC) is giving that area of low pressure a 60% chance of developing into a tropical cyclone.
Of course, since we are several days away weather models are not on the same page about the location.
The American weather model, otherwise known as the GFS for short, thinks the storm will move towards Florida. The European weather model, known as Euro or ECMWF, thinks the storm will track closer to Louisiana and Mississippi. The ECMWF model has been shown to be more accurate than the GFS, but not in all cases or instances.
No matter which model ends up being correct, it won't be a good weekend to spend much time at the beach.
The top five Gulf destinations that Atlantans mostly likely visit, Panama City Beach, Destin, Tampa, Pensacola, and Orange Beach, will be impacted by this storm.
Coastal flooding from heavy rainfall and ocean water inundation will also cause problems on beaches.
If you still want to go to the beach for this weekend, you may have better luck going to beach locations in Texas or southern California.
You won't even be able to escape the rain going to the Atlantic coast either.
