Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico areas to watch for early summer tropical development

LAKE MARY, Fla. - Our brand new hurricane season is only six days away.  We have already had one named storm, Tropical Storm Arthur, and the latest forecast models are showing this to be a very active season ahead.

The month of June is always an interesting one as the waters warm and the cold fronts fade.  We can't rely on a cold front to make it all the way into the Gulf of Mexico, so a tropical system has to form off of some other weather feature. 

The main areas where tropical systems form in June are typically located in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, where waters are the warmest and low-pressure centers can form over Central America.

When a cluster of thunderstorms grows across Central America and Mexico, they can often induce a low-pressure center to form, which can lead to the development of our next tropical system.  Usually these systems are slow and messy with plenty of rain. 

The steering currents in June are often sluggish and blow from southwest to northeast.  That steering flow often times will push a tropical storm or weak hurricane into the Gulf of Mexico and into Florida.

With only six days to the official start of the season, be sure you are storm ready!  Now is the time to gather some supplies, prepare around your home, and make sure you have a plan of attack in case one of these early season storms form in the coming weeks.