Please see the below update from the National Weather Service (NWS) New Orleans / Baton Rouge and the National Hurricane Center regarding Potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen.
- Potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen is expected to become a tropical storm Monday and pass near Jamaica on Monday night and Tuesday.
- It is forecast to move generally northwestward and strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches western Cuba.
- It is then forecast to move into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico where it should begin to gradually weaken as it encounters higher wind shear and drier air on a continued northwest trajectory.
- It should be noted there is higher than normal uncertainty in the forecast, especially beyond midweek. The eventual track and intensity of this system will depend greatly on the strength of a high pressure system over the western Atlantic and Florida, the timing of a low pressure system forecast to move into the plains states during the middle to latter part of the work week, and how the storm interacts with Cuba.
