Coming off the heels of Hurricane Dorian, the Bahamas and Florida could once again experience heavy rainfall and wind because of a tropical storm system.
Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday morning and could turn into a tropical depression or tropical storm on Friday or Saturday. If the storm strengthens into a tropical storm, it will be dubbed Humberto, as that's next on the list of storm names for the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
About a week before potential Tropical Storm Humberto's forecasted arrival in the Bahamas and Florida, the Bahamas were hit by Hurricane Dorian. A Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, the hurricane claimed lives, destroyed homes and decimated areas of the island.
As of Friday morning, Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine was about 235 miles from the Grand Bahama Island and about 140 miles from the Great Abaco Island, both of which are still dealing with the aftermath of Dorian.
Moving at six miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the storm had maximum sustained winds of 30 miles-per-hour. If winds reach 38 miles-per-hour, it will become a tropical depression and the system will become a tropical storm once maximum sustained winds reach 73 miles-per-hour.
The NHC gave the system an 80 percent chance of turning into at least a tropical depression within 48 hours and a 90 percent chance within the next five days.
It's possible the storm could hit the Grand Bahama Island as a tropical storm on Saturday before moving northwest toward Florida. Just shy of hitting north of Palm Bay, the storm was forecasted to make a northeast turn and continue moving parallel to Florida's coast.
On Sunday morning, the storm was expected to be off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, and then make a relatively dramatic turn to the northeast, carrying it away from the United States.
However, before the storm potentially arrives, Florida and the Bahamas could experience heavy wind and rain from the system. Winds were set to impact the Bahamas on Friday morning and afternoon and then impact Florida on Saturday morning. Georgia, South Carolin and North Carolina could also experience tropical-storm-force winds.
Rainfall in the Bahamas was expected to range from two to four inches with six inches in isolated areas. The southeast coast of the United States from Florida to South Carolina could also see two to four inches of rainfall.
Fortunately, the northwestern Bahamas was not expected to experience significant storm surges, which are often one of the most deadly aspects of a tropical storm or a hurricane.
As of Friday morning, the northwestern Bahamas excluding Andros Island was under a Tropical Storm Warning and Jupiter Inlet, Florida, to the Flagler-Volusia County, Florida, line was under a Tropical Storm Watch. During a Tropical Storm Warning, tropical storm conditions are expected in the listed areas within 36 hours. A Tropical Storm Watch is less severe and indicates that tropical storm conditions are possible within the area within 48 hours.
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