- May 3, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
As we move into the weekend, Volusia County is monitoring two storms currently moving toward the Gulf of Mexico, said Emergency Management Director Jim Judge during a briefing on Friday, Aug. 21.
Tropical Storm Laura is expected to pass through Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba over the coming weekend before strengthening to a hurricane in the gulf on Tuesday. A small portion of southwest Florida and the panhandle could be impacted by Laura, according to the National Hurricane Center's forecast.
What can we expect here in Volusia County?
“Well, quite honestly, pretty much what we’re seeing every afternoon in our summer weather pattern," Judge said.
Additionally, he issued a severe weather threat for Friday afternoon. Earlier this week on Tuesday, Aug. 18, an EF2 touched down in DeLand and nearby areas of unincorporated Volusia County.
Judge said the county is also watching what could become Tropical Storm Marco, currently tropical depression 14, though that storm is heading over the gulf toward Texas or Louisiana.
With both storms in the gulf, if they were to pass close enough to each other, a Fujiwhara Effect could occur. According to the National Weather Service, when this happens, the storms "begin an intense dance around their common center," and if one storm is stronger than the other, the smaller storm will eventually be absorbed by the larger. Storms could also merge or spin each other around before heading off on their own paths, NWS explains.
“Something a little unusual," Judge said. "You don’t hear that often, but we don’t think that will take place.”
