ATLANTA, Georgia — Hurricane season is still in full swing, with a new storm brewing. Tropical Depression Eighteen formed overnight and the storm has been moving slowly throughout the Caribbean Sea.
Winds have been 35 miles an hour or less. There are several warnings and watches as the storm approaches the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. The latest track shows that the storm is expected to pick up strength as it heads into the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days. Models are still not in agreement about where the storm will track once it is closer to the United States.
We are expecting rainfall to arrive in Georgia on Wednesday. Rainfall totals will continue to fluctuate until models agree.
The latest forecast track shows the storm becoming a category 1 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. The track is also keeping the storm headed toward Louisiana. If the storm takes a northerly route, Georgia, specifically south Georgia, could have a large impact. We are anticipating rain to be pulled in from the system on Wednesday. The unknown is, how much rainfall could we expect?
Hurricane season does not end until the end of November. Temperatures are getting cooler as we head towards the end of fall, but the water in the Caribbean is still warm. If there is any development, this could fuel a storm.
Hurricane season in the Atlantic ends on November 30. However, the Caribbean often sees late-season tropical development. There were no November storms in 2023. Hurricane Nicole in 2022 was one of the recent notable November storms. Nicole was the fourth storm to make landfall in the United States.
This tropical depression could become Rafael before the end of the day. Rafael would be the 17th named storm of this hurricane season.
