Watching a Trough Near the Bahamas

There is a trough of low pressure that extends from the southeastern Bahamas northeastward over the adjacent Atlantic waters.

The trough is producing widespread cloudiness, showers, and thunderstorms.

Although limited development of this system is anticipated today, the National Hurricane Center says that conditions are forecast to become a little more conducive for tropical cyclone formation over the weekend, and a tropical depression is likely to form as the system moves northwestward across the Florida Straits and southern Florida, and into the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

This disturbance will likely produce periods of locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds across the Bahamas through Friday, and across Florida during the weekend. An Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft is scheduled to investigate the system this afternoon, if necessary.

There is a 70 percent chance that the trough will develop into a tropical cyclone over the next five days.