Tropical Storm Fred develops just south of Puerto Rico
TAMPA, Fla. - Tropical Storm Fred has officially been named, developing just south of Puerto Rico and bringing heavy rains and gusty winds to land masses in its immediate path.
The National Hurricane Center started issuing watches and warnings for the Caribbean islands ahead of becoming a named storm.
FOX 13's Paul Dellegatto said it's worth paying attention to Saturday night into Sunday, but intensification, as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico, is not guaranteed.
"We still have a long ways to go," Dellegatto said. The only thing that has to be somewhat concerning is that while the environment for the next couple of days is not good for intensification… once it nears Florida it looks like the environment will favor at least some intensification. The question is, what kind of a shape will the storm be?"
A Hurricane Hunter plane flying in the system Tuesday morning found it still did not have a well-defined center. They did, however, find some winds at tropical storm force, but without a well-defined center of circulation, it still lacks part of the criteria to be classified as a tropical storm.
Long-range forecast models take the storm into the eastern Gulf by the weekend, which will likely bring higher rain chances Saturday to the Bay Area.
"On a path like this, if it were to do exactly what that says, it will just bring us good rain Saturday night and into Sunday," says FOX 13’s meteorologist Dave Osterberg. "They call it a Potential Tropical Cyclone because it doesn’t have that closed low, however, the winds are high enough and it’s close enough to land that they’ve got to get these warnings out."
With the current forecast track, there are plenty of limiting factors the storm will face: dry air, wind shear and land interaction.
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The forecast track will bring heavier rain to the Bay Area from Saturday night and into Sunday.
Warnings were issued for Puerto Rico, including Culebra and Vieques, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic on the south coast from Punta Palenque eastward and on the north coast from Cabo Frances Viejo eastward, according to a 5 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
A watch is in effect for Martinique and Guadeloupe, Dominica, Saba and St. Eustatius, Dominican Republic on the north coast from Cabo Frances Viejo to the Dominican Republic/Haiti border and Haiti from the northern border with the Dominican Republic to Gonaives, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and for the southeastern Bahamas, including the Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay, the Inaguas, Mayaguana, and the Ragged Islands.
It has been more than a month since this year’s fifth named storm — Hurricane Elsa — formed.