Tropical trouble could be brewing closer to home with new area to watch designated in the Gulf
A new area to watch was designated Saturday night near the Bay of Campeche, where a broad area of low pressure could develop.
Atlantic hurricane season shows signs of life as tropical activity brews in the Gulf
A new area to watch was designated Saturday night in the Gulf of America. According to the FOX Forecast Center, the system has a low chance of development over the next seven days where a broad area of low pressure could develop. As of now, it is too early to say when or where this system could form.
THE TAKEAWAY
- A new area to watch was designated in the Gulf of America on Saturday night.
- The system currently has a low chance of development over the next seven days.
- Even if the system does not fully develop, the deep tropical moisture associated with it could increase the risk for several days of heavy rainfall.
The Atlantic hurricane season is showing signs of life as October gets underway, with tropical trouble brewing closer to home in the Gulf of America.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, a new area to watch was designated Saturday night near the Bay of Campeche, where a broad area of low pressure could develop.
(FOX Weather)
The system currently has a 40% chance of developing in the next seven days. But it's still too early to say where or when a tropical system could form.
Any potential system is also expected to move slowly as it drifts across the southwestern Gulf.
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Currently, a strong subtropical jet stream is positioned across the Gulf and into the Atlantic. As air begins to rise, a surface low could potentially develop or consolidate.
(FOX Weather)
The exact position of the jet stream will be crucial. If it remains too far south, increased wind shear could rip apart any tropical system trying to form.
Meanwhile, Gulf water temperatures are currently at their warmest levels on record dating back to 1982.
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Man walks through the flooded streets of St. Augustine, FL after Hurricane Matthew passed through the area on October 7, 2016.
(Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
The FOX Forecast Center notes that even if the system does not fully develop, the deep tropical moisture associated with it could increase the risk for several days of heavy rainfall, reaching areas well north of the Gulf Coast.
A quiet September
The Atlantic has gone 338 days since the last hurricane formed, with September ending without a hurricane for the first time in 32 years.
(FOX Weather)
It marked only the eighth time since the 1950s that the Atlantic went through September without a hurricane and just the second time since the start of the satellite era in 1966.
Despite it being the climatological peak of the season, El Niño-driven winds have suppressed activity this year.
If the entire 2026 Atlantic hurricane season ends without a hurricane, it would be just the third time on record, since 1914 and 1917.
A neighborhood destroyed in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida.
(RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP / Getty Images)
However, hurricanes may have formed during those seasons, but went undetected because they remained far from land and ships at sea.
If this happens in 2026, it would mark the first hurricane-free Atlantic season of the modern satellite era.
Stay with FOX Weather for the latest.