Belize issued tropical storm warnings for coastal areas on Friday as Tropical Storm Sara moved through the Caribbean, dousing Honduras’ northern coast with heavy rain.

The disturbance we’ve been tracking through the Caribbean this week was upgraded to Tropical Depression Nineteen Thursday morning off the coast of northern Honduras.

Tropical Depression 19 strengthened into Tropical Storm Sara Thursday afternoon in the western Caribbean. Life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides are expected in Honduras through the weekend, the National Hurricane Center reported.

A significant late-season tropical system is poised to come together later this week and could strengthen into a formidable November hurricane by this weekend or early next week as it meanders in the western Caribbean.

Officials are blaming illegal firearms for an increase or a record number of killings in a growing number of Caribbean islands this year.

A significant late-season tropical system is poised to come together later this week and could strengthen into a formidable November hurricane by this weekend or early next week as it meanders in the western Caribbean.

With Rafael quickly spinning down over the Gulf of Mexico this weekend – its thunderstorm activity wiped clear by a slug of dry air and hostile wind shear – we’d hope the hurricane season would finally come to its senses and move into its traditional November hibernation, but the Caribbean has other plans.

Rafael re-strengthened overnight to a major Category 3 hurricane over the central Gulf of Mexico, becoming the farthest west a Category 3 or stronger hurricane has been observed during the month of November.

On Sunday, the National Hurricane Center initiated advisories on Potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen, a tropical disturbance in the southwestern Caribbean forecast to develop into a named storm in the coming hours, possibly reaching hurricane status before impacting western Cuba by Wednesday.

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Rafael has formed in the Caribbean and will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening to a hurricane and likely hitting Cuba.

A hurricane watch for the Cayman Islands and a tropical storm warning for Jamaica have been issued as a weather system in the Caribbean is expected to strengthen.

As we first detailed in this newsletter last Thursday, a tropical depression or named storm could come together by this weekend or early next week as it meanders around in the central and western Caribbean.

Overnight computer models waffled on the outlook for a disturbance we’ve been following in the southwestern and central Caribbean, softening its development prospects and pushing back the development window into early next week.

We continue to follow the progress of a broad area of low pressure over the southwestern Caribbean that could consolidate into a tropical depression or named storm later this week as it drifts northward toward the central Caribbean.

As we detailed a week ago in this newsletter, the Caribbean is expected to make another run at tropical development later this week or into the weekend as we turn the calendar to November.

After a banner start to October that included 3 simultaneous hurricanes (Kirk, Leslie, and Milton) during its first week – a first in our record books for the month of October – with more activity packed into one month than we see in some Augusts and Septembers (traditionally our busiest months) combined, including the strongest hurricane in almost two decades (Milton), a devastating Florida hurricane hit and a surprise hurricane (Oscar) – the smallest we’ve ever measured – last weekend, the tropics are finally simmering down to end the month.

After taking a slow, horseshoe-shaped dip across eastern Cuba over the past 36 hours and dumping over a foot of heavy rain – causing pockets of significant flooding – poorly-organized Oscar is picking up the pace and accelerating through the southeastern Bahamas and toward the western Atlantic.

After forming in the western Caribbean, Tropical Storm Nadine was away from Florida and impacted Central America on Saturday.

Cuba’s electrical grid went down after one of the island’s major power plants failed, leaving millions without power.

Two disturbances we’ve been tracking this week – one in the western Caribbean and the other passing just north of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands today – will bring the threat of heavy rainfall to Central America and the Greater Antilles but neither will be a concern for the mainland U.S.

We continue to follow a disturbance dubbed Invest 94L tracking westward through the central Atlantic. Though not unheard of, the almost due-west course from the deep tropical Atlantic is an unusual trajectory for a system this late in the season, when developing systems most often turn quickly north and east once they’re in the vicinity of the Caribbean.

After its most active start to October on record and following a spate of 5 hurricanes – including 3 major hurricanes – in less than 2 weeks, the Atlantic is throttling back to a more reasonable pace for middle October.

Although the Atlantic hurricane season officially ends Nov. 30, scientists say there is still the possibility for more named storms this year.

The broad area of storminess we’ve been monitoring in the Caribbean has begun to pivot northward into the Gulf of Mexico, where some slow development is possible by this weekend or early next week.

We continue to monitor a disturbance lifting northward from the western Caribbean for possible development over the Gulf of Mexico by this weekend.

After Hurricane Helene’s far-reaching force, meteorologists were tracking five systems. None posed an immediate threat to South Florida, but one in the southwestern Caribbean was moving north and getting stronger.

Two tropical cyclones are continuing to move over open water in the Atlantic, but forecasters say neither poses a threat to land.

Monroe County Public Schools announced all of the schools and districts’ offices will be closed on Thursday as part of preparations for Hurricane Helene’s impact in Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 41 counties, including Monroe County, as an organizing cluster of storms over the western Caribbean is expected to gradually develop into a named storm over the next day or two and could quickly strengthen into a formidable hurricane.

It has been a nice weekend without any heat advisories. The first day of Fall will bring a ton of sunshine and only an isolated storm for inland areas. Many will stay dry.

A tropical system could form over the southern Gulf next week and threaten the northern Gulf Coast into next weekend

Forecast models continue to advertise slow tropical development beginning next week across the northwestern Caribbean, with a system that could pivot into the southern Gulf of Mexico by the middle to latter part of the week.

On Thursday, the National Hurricane Center continued to raise the specter of tropical formation over the western Caribbean and southern Gulf of Mexico for the early to middle part of next week.

Haiti’s government has created a provisional electoral council.

On Tuesday evening, the National Hurricane Center outlined an area of possible tropical development in the western Caribbean for early next week.

On the one hand, the hurricane season is on track to notably underdeliver on hyperactive seasonal forecasts – measured by overall tropical activity, not storm impacts – predicted by virtually all of the two dozen or so groups that issue such long-term forecasts, including NOAA, the parent agency of the National Weather Service.

A coastal storm has taken shape from a non-tropical area of low pressure attached to a dying cold front off the southeastern U.S., bringing heavy rains, coastal flooding, and tropical storm conditions (winds above 38 mph) to the Carolinas today.

Beneath the murky surface of the waters at Crandon Marina, a foreign invader has taken root

The theme of the past few weeks continues across the Atlantic with several systems struggling to gain footing as dry and sinking air quickly squashes organized storminess.

It’s been an unusually quiet stretch during what is traditionally one of the busier parts of the hurricane season.

Despite several disturbances peppering the Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico to Africa this Labor Day – a traditionally active turn in the hurricane season – none show any immediate signs of development.

A tropical wave producing thunderstorms was strengthening on Saturday afternoon in the Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Center Miami’s tropical weather outlook.

A disturbance currently located over the central Atlantic is forecast to slowly develop as it moves westward toward the easternmost Caribbean islands to start next week.

Two Atlantic systems that we spotlighted in Wednesday’s newsletter are gaining support for development next week as forecast models trend toward an active start to September.

The twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago is debating whether it should remove statues, signs and monuments with colonial ties and how those spaces should be used instead.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen any new candidates for development in the Atlantic, but this morning the National Hurricane Center is highlighting two areas.

We hit the ground running this hurricane season earlier than usual – with the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record and already two U.S. hurricane landfalls and one direct hurricane strike on Bermuda. Even if no other tropical systems form in the Atlantic for the next two weeks, we’ll still be running ahead of schedule for the year.

Tropical Storm Ernesto is bringing gusty winds above 45 mph to the Leeward Islands this morning as conditions quickly deteriorate across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday.

A tropical disturbance we first alerted you to in this newsletter on Tuesday is poised to slowly develop as it nears the easternmost Caribbean islands next Monday into Tuesday.

A woman was hospitalized early Wednesday morning after she was shot in Lauderhill, authorities confirmed.

In Wednesday morning’s newsletter, we discussed how the interplay between the robust tropical wave moving through the complex terrain of the northeastern Caribbean islands today and tomorrow would be crucial to its forecast this weekend.

The mostly “dry” tropical disturbance moving through the Atlantic that we first brought to your attention in this newsletter a week ago is slowly gathering storminess as it moves through the islands of the northeastern Caribbean this morning.

We continue to follow a large tropical wave moving toward the easternmost Caribbean islands with little fanfare.

Beginning last Wednesday we began previewing the possibility of development of a tropical disturbance nearing the Caribbean islands for this week and in Friday morning’s newsletter we discussed a more conducive configuration for development once the disturbance moves into the western Atlantic later this week.

The big story going into this hurricane season was the chart-topping warmth throughout the Atlantic Main Development Region – the strip of tropical waters from the Caribbean to Africa where most of our strongest hurricanes get their start later in the season.

July is an important transition month for the hurricane season. It’s the month we begin to look farther out into the open Atlantic as more storms form east of the Caribbean than during June.

Caribbean officials are demanding more access to funding and help in fighting climate change just weeks after Hurricane Beryl devastated the region.

Officials say people in the southeast Caribbean urgently need food, water and shelter nearly two weeks after Hurricane Beryl crushed the region as a Category 4 storm.

Hurricane Beryl’s estimated death toll was 18 including 11 in the Caribbean and six in Texas. It left millions without power and many people in need picking up the pieces in Texas, Louisiana, and the Caribbean.

Beryl – the record-setting hurricane that struck Texas Monday – is likely a harbinger of a hyperactive season, according to updated hurricane season predictions issued Tuesday from experts at Colorado State University.

Local 10 News This Week In South Florida Anchor Glenna Milberg interviews Fort Lauderdale Commissioner John Herbst, Florida Rep. Hillary Cassel, Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, and U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

After hitting Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and downgrading to a tropical storm, Beryl is expected to once again become a hurricane as it hurtles towards southern Texas by Sunday evening.

The Global Empowerment Mission in Doral continues its mission Thursday in spearheading a relief effort in response to Hurricane Beryl’s devastating impact on parts of the Caribbean.

As Hurricane Beryl continues to pummel Jamaica, residents and those with ties to the island are feeling the storm’s impact.

Stung by past failures to prepare for hurricanes, the Mexican government is evacuating even sea turtle eggs from beaches ahead of Hurricane Beryl.

We are seeing more and more video of the deadly destruction caused in the Caribbean islands by Hurricane Beryl.

Hurricane Beryl’s rampage through the Caribbean continues today as the still-Category 4 hurricane targets Jamaica with a direct strike, bringing a storm surge of up to 9 feet, devastating winds, destructive waves, and heavy rainfall from today into early Thursday.

Hurricane Beryl is roaring by Jamaica, bringing fierce winds and heavy rain after the powerful Category 4 storm earlier killed at least seven people and caused significant damage in the southeast Caribbean.

The Global Empowerment Mission in Doral is spearheading a relief effort in response to Hurricane Beryl’s devastating impact on parts of the Caribbean.

After striking the small island of Carriacou at the entrance of the eastern Caribbean as a 150 mph Category 4 hurricane on Monday, Beryl continued to intensify through the overnight hours, becoming a 165 mph Category 5 hurricane by early Tuesday.

Hurricane Beryl is roaring across the Caribbean Sea as a powerful Category 4 storm on a path toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

In a remarkable 24-hour period over the weekend, Beryl strengthened from a tropical storm to a 130 mph hurricane, and is now on the doorstep of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada in the easternmost Caribbean as a Category 4 hurricane.

Hurricane Beryl has strengthened to Category 5 status as it crosses islands in the southeastern Caribbean.

Beryl strengthened into a new Category hurricane on Saturday afternoon and is forecast to strengthen into a Category 3.

Beryl has grown into a hurricane in the Atlantic and is forecast to strengthen into a major storm as it nears the Caribbean.

The Homeland Security Department says more than 300,000 Haitians already in the United States will be eligible for a major expansion of temporary legal status because conditions in the Caribbean nation are unsafe for return.

The strong disturbance labeled Invest 95L churning westward through the eastern Atlantic continued to organize overnight and is expected to become a tropical depression or storm later today or on Saturday. The next name on the list is Beryl.

A Jamaican-American man who travels to the Caribbean island nation regularly vanished nearly two weeks ago in Kingston.

A strong tropical disturbance over the eastern Atlantic – designated Invest 95L by the National Hurricane Center – is poised to organize into the first significant storm of the young hurricane season as it churns toward the easternmost Caribbean islands for early next week.

A Caribbean flamingo hatched at Zoo Miami nearly two weeks ago, Zoo Miami Communications Director Ron Magill confirmed in a press release on Wednesday.

In Tuesday’s newsletter we previewed a tropical wave – a strong disturbance emerging off the coast of Africa – that could make a run at development as it heads toward the Caribbean for next week. By late yesterday, NHC added the area to its outlook, indicating slow development in the days ahead.

July is typically a transition month between less organized, homebrewed tropical systems and the long-track, powerful hurricanes of August and September. It’s in July – typically by mid to late July – that we more closely monitor tropical waves, disturbances rolling off Africa every 3 to 5 days that largely go unnoticed in June.

A fleet of Russian warships have reached Cuban waters ahead of planned military exercises in the Caribbean.

It’s been a rather dry start to the rainy season for South Florida. Though it’s only been three weeks since the official start of the rainy season, over the past month a good portion of South Florida has only seen a quarter to a tenth or less of the rainfall we’d typically expect this time of year.

After all the pre-season hype, it’s only fitting that the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is on track to see the latest start of any year since at least 2014.

The Biden administration says it has sent about 50 Haitians back to their country, marking its first deportation flight in months to the Caribbean nation struggling under surging gang violence.

Caribbean leaders say all groups and political parties except one have submitted nominees for a transitional presidential council charged with selecting an interim prime minister for Haiti.

Caribbean officials say a plan to create a transitional presidential council is moving forward after a majority of Haitian parties and coalitions submitted the names of those charged with finding new leaders for the country.

Exceeding expectations, the biopic “ Bob Marley: One Love ” has been a box office hit in the United States and several other countries.

Police in Haiti are urgently appealing for help as they struggle to hold back gangs trying to storm the country’s main prison in a major escalation of violence sweeping the troubled Caribbean nation.

A top court has ruled that two residents of the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda have the right to challenge construction of an airstrip that critics say endangers fragile ecosystems and was begun without any permits.

Police in the Caribbean say they believe a U.S. couple whose catamaran was hijacked by three escaped prisoners were thrown into the ocean and died.

Caribbean leaders have met with embattled Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to talk about his country’s unrelenting gang violence.

Authorities in the eastern Caribbean say they are trying to locate two people believed to be U.S. citizens who were aboard a yacht hijacked by three escaped prisoners from Grenada.

American Airlines will now be flying to a brand-new Caribbean destination from Miami International Airport.

The U.S. State Department warned Americans against travel to the Bahamas on Monday after gang violence resulted in 18 murders — even in broad daylight — just this year, in Nassau.

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas — the biggest cruise ship in the world and the first water park at sea — was at PortMiami on Thursday. It has a capacity for 7,600 passengers.

Mexico’s president has inaugurated the first part of the pet project of his administration, a tourist train that runs in a rough loop around the Yucatan peninsula.

Royal Caribbean's largest ship, the Icon of the Seas is on its way to South Florida.

With the Caribbean clearing out in the wake of stormy Invest 97L last week, it appears the tropical Atlantic is headed on hiatus, or perhaps even into hibernation until next hurricane season.