ORLANDO, Fla. _ "Tiny" Tropical Storm Gonzalo accelerated Friday, as forecasters said the weakened system could still develop into the first hurricane of the 2020 season.
Further weakening is expected after Gonzalo moves into the Caribbean Sea, and it should dissipate by the middle of next week.
Meanwhile, in the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Hanna strengthened Friday morning and is expected to make landfall along the Texas coast on Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. advisory.
Gonzalo, moving at 18 mph, is about 485 miles east of the southern Windward Islands with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, a bit weaker than earlier in the day, the NHC said in its 11 a.m. advisory.
It's expected to turn northwest and gain speed over the weekend.
"On the forecast track, the center of Gonzalo will approach the southern Windward Islands tonight and then move across the islands on Saturday and over the eastern Caribbean Sea on Sunday," the NHC said.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and a hurricane watch for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. A tropical storm watch is in effect for Tobago and Grenada.
Gonzalo could bring up to 8 inches of rain.
Meteorologists don't expect it to remain in the Atlantic for very long as it trudges through areas of dry air and high wind shear on Saturday, FOX 35 meteorologist Jayme King said Thursday.
"Global models show this thing actually diminishing to nothing as it gets into the central Caribbean. It'll be facing increased wind shear and dry air that's out there right now from Africa. That might be the silver bullet for Gonzalo," King said.
As the storm progresses west and northwest, it is likely to dissipate thanks to the dry Saharan dust from west Africa which typically chokes the moisture out of tropical systems leaving them without fuel to run, King said.
King is currently looking at another system behind Gonzalo, which the NHC publicly identified on Thursday afternoon. Models show the system, larger than "tiny" Gonzalo, taking shape early next week, forecasters said. It has a 30% chance of development in the next five days.
In the Gulf, Hanna, about 260 miles east of Corpus Christi, picked up forward speed overnight and is moving at 9 mph.
The storm, which has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, is expected to make landfall on the Texas coast Saturday.
A tropical storm warning is in effect from the mouth of the Rio Grande to San Luis Pass, Texas.
Hanna is expected to dump 4 to 8 inches of rain, perhaps up to 12 inches in some areas, through Sunday night in south Texas. This could lead to life-threatening flash flooding, rapid rises on small streams, and isolated minor to moderate river flooding in south Texas. Along the upper Texas and Louisiana coasts, and inland to the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and northern Tamaulipas, 3 to 5 inches of rain is expected, forecasters said.
The start of a rampant season could begin next week with hurricane models tracking three potential systems spinning the Caribbean and the mid Atlantic. Meteorologists may be kept on their toes especially with the Gulf of Mexico's surface temperatures resting at 93 degrees.
"The lid comes off over in the (Main Development Region) around the Caribbean islands and to the Cape Verde islands near Africa. Several storms could spin out and moving in the westerly directions," King said. "One of those, the models show, could form on top of the Bahamas, although the Hispaniola mountains may rip that up. Even so, we never ignore a signal, and anything could happen. The models don't take the Saharan dust into account, depending on how much of it is in the Caribbean, it could stop anything from forming."
