The tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico has just stopped.
According to the latest advice from the National Hurricane Center, ETA remains a tropical storm with 50 MPF constant winds. It is located about 350 miles southwest of Fort Myers, or 150 miles west of Havana, Cuba.
Eta will probably become stronger in the next 24 hours, as it begins to turn back to the north. However, long-distance forecasts have called for the hurricane to weaken or detach before it sails on the Northern Gulf Coast.
While Eta will be to the west of the SWFL, the rotation around Eta is still very large, so Southwest Florida will deal with rain stripes for the rest of the work week as Eta will track north. We won’t experience 3 ″ to 4 ″ rain falling on Monday morning, but due to some locally heavy rain we could pick up a quick inch or so.
These rain bands are having a very difficult time in advance, but we are confident that Tuesday’s rain band will pass through the SWFL in the afternoon, spreading from the coast to our hinterland by evening.
Even slow-moving hurricanes will continue to whirl through the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, leading to rough seas for the rest of the week.
Stay tuned to ABC7 as we continue to track Ita this week.
