The tropics have suddenly been getting active. It now looks like two systems will be classified in the near future. The area most people will be watching is across the southern Gulf of Mexico. There, a disturbance has a high development chance and may bring heavy rain and stormy conditions to areas stretching from Texas to the Florida panhandle. The track, of course, has yet to be determined. The majority of tracking models suggest that the disturbance will slowly aim for the northern Gulf coast of the United States. While the center (and even the brunt) of the activity appears to be removed from our area, deep tropical moisture will at least bring better rain chances from Monday through Tuesday. After that, we should experience more dry time with hotter temperatures. The second area in the tropics is approaching the Lesser Antilles (specifically the Windward Islands, to the south). Gusty tropical winds and squally rains will move toward Barbados, Grenada, along with Trinidad and Tobago…where tropical storm warnings have been issued even in advance of an actual system! We expect the National Hurricane Center to classify the disturbance on Monday as either Tropical Depression Two or Tropical Storm Bret. The system may strengthen through the early week but probably weaken by Wednesday in the Caribbean Sea. At that point in time, the feature may even fizzle out. Stay tuned.