As we approach the weekend, a Hazardous Algal Bloom better known as Red Tide, will loom large at the Beaches. A Red Tide is a form of Algae that multiplies rather quickly turning toxic to marine life. This can not only kill fish but be an irritant to human beings. The wind kicks up some of that contamination and once breathed, it can give you a sore throat, runny nose and watery eyes. It can be downright dangerous for folks with respiratory issues.
Through the next 48 to 72 hours, the wind will pick up along the coast, keeping the Red Tide close to shore. We are also looking at the return of King Tides from October 6th – 12th, and that too could push in some of that irritant into low-lying areas prone to flooding.
We also end the work week monitoring an area of low pressure just offshore Central America. It’s basically sitting near Cabo Gracias a Dios, on the border between Honduras and Nicaragua.
On the Satellite view, one can see the expansive cloud cover with this low, stretching from Coastal Central America, eastward into Haiti and Dominican Republic.
There is plenty of rain impacting the region and that could lead to flash flooding that could also cause land and mudslides. This low is moving at a snail’s pace and it may take until the weekend for it to move out of the area.
As of Thursday night, the National Hurricane Center (NHC), was giving the low a very low chance for organization in the short-term, but by Saturday or Sunday, the chances will go up to 40%. That’s up from 30% a mere 24 hours earlier. The possible formation area also shifted from Western and Central Cuba, west into the Yucatan Peninsula.
The European model suggests, if it can survive strong upper level winds known as shear, it may be in the Gulf of Mexico by the middle of next week.
For the time being, the shear which can keep systems from developing or weakening them, is sitting just to the north of the low as a huge wind brick wall. That wall should hound it over the next 5 – 7 days.
We will keep monitoring the situation.
Phil Ferro- Chief Meteorologist WSVN Fox Miami