Two weak tropical disturbances looming

Welcome rains expected for the state of Florida, while Bangladesh sees little break after the end of the monsoon.

Bangladesh Flood
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Bangladesh is no stranger to floods and are preparing for more rain this week [GALLO/GETTY]

The tropical season is not quite over yet. Two areas across the globe are showing the potential to wreak a bit of havoc, even if they don’t become full blown storms.

With October and November being quieter months for the Atlantic hurricane season, a large area of low pressure is turning just to the north of the Yucatan Peninsula. The showers from this disturbance are reaching into Western Cuba and South Florida.
 
95L, which this large mass of clouds has been named, has been moving so slowly that rainfall totals around the region have been considerable. Pino Del Rio, Cuba and Key West, Florida have seen rainfall amounts since Sunday in excess of 200 millimeters. This is about double what they would normally see this month.

‘Hot’ spots

The National Hurricane Center is only giving this system a slim, 20 per cent chance of making it to even a tropical depression, with a continued slow northeasterly movement into the Florida peninsula.

If you are travelling to the “hot” spots of Florida this week such as Miami or Orlando, expect to see lots of rain with very little sunshine. But for the residents of Florida, this welcome rain means that their water reserves will fill up nicely. 

On the other side of the world, just when Bangladesh was rejoicing in the clearer skies marking the end of the southwest monsoon, an area of circulation just south of the coast has started to develop.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center, which is just one of the agencies monitoring the region for cyclone development, is giving this area a “medium” chance of developing into a cyclone, weak as it may be.

Bangladesh is extremely susceptible to these storms, mainly due to their low lying river delta that is barely above sea level. Forecast models are continuing to move this disturbance northwards over the next several days, while delivering anywhere between 150 to 300 millimetres of rain to the southerly and southeasterly coastlines.

Bangladesh’s history with cyclones has been extensive. The last storm to impact this country was Cyclone Sidr in 2007, killing over 2000 people.

Source: Al Jazeera