A system over the Caribbean could develop off the east coast of Florida next week and bring rain on Election Day

While former hurricanes Lisa and Martin were downgraded on Thursday, a system off the east coast of Florida could develop into a tropical storm early next week.

The National Hurricane Center predicts an increased likelihood that a depression or tropical storm will form in the Atlantic and potentially threaten Florida over the next five days.

Barry Baxter, meteorologist for the National Weather Service Miami, encouraged South Floridians to stay vigilant throughout the weekend.

“We are technically still in hurricane season until the end of this month,” he said. “So don’t let your guard down just because it’s November. It’s rare that we get them at this time of year, but we could still get them.

According to the 8-hour update from the NHC, forecasters predict that a large non-tropical low pressure system will develop this weekend over the northeast Caribbean Sea and southwest Atlantic near from Puerto Rico.

“The system is expected to be very broad and disorganized initially, but could begin to acquire subtropical or tropical characteristics by the end of the weekend,” the forecasters said. “Environmental conditions could favor further gradual development early next week and a subtropical or tropical depression could form as the disturbance moves generally northwest or west over the South Atlantic. west.”

The formation chance was increased to 40% on Friday for it to form within the next five days.

On Election Day Tuesday, voters in South Florida will likely begin to feel the effects as the system draws in humidity from the Caribbean Sea. Forecasters predict a 60% chance of rain on Tuesday and wind speeds between 15 and 20 mph.

“It’s going to be loose at this point, but will definitely bring some moisture,” Baxter said. “It’s going to be a rainy day.”

[ STAY UPDATED with the latest forecast for tropical weather at SunSentinel.com/hurricane ]

The National Weather Service Miami said in a weekly briefing Thursday that the potential subtropical system could impact southern Florida “but there remains a high degree of uncertainty regarding the development of this disturbance.” The main concern at the moment, according to the weather service, is the dangerous waters of the Atlantic.

Forecasters are also monitoring an area of ​​weak low pressure located several hundred miles east-southeast of Bermuda that has only had a 10% chance of developing over the next two to five days and will not affect not land from 8 o’clock in the morning.

Hurricane Lisa was downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday, a day after making landfall southwest of Belize City as the season’s sixth hurricane.

Lisa is expected to get back on the water, entering the Bay of Campeche off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, while continuing to weaken.

As of 11 a.m., Lisa’s maximum sustained winds were 35 mph and it was moving northwest at 7 mph, the hurricane center said. A slight strengthening is expected today, but Lisa should start to weaken Saturday morning.

And Hurricane Martin, which also formed on Wednesday, has shifted to a post-tropical system but will continue to produce a wide area of ​​strong winds over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. advisory. .

post-tropical cyclone Martin will move slowly east on Friday, then east to east-southeast over the weekend, the center advisory said. Its winds will slow over the next few days but remain strong over the weekend, creating “dangerous winds and seas over a very wide area of ​​the North Atlantic for the next two days”.

Martin had peak winds of 80 mph at 5 p.m. Thursday and was moving north-northeast at 58 mph about 885 miles east-northeast of Newfoundland, Canada.

There have been two major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or higher, so far this season.

NOAA has predicted that at least four more hurricanes will form before the official end of hurricane season on Nov. 30.

The next named storm to form will be Nicole.