MIDWAY, Fla. (WTXL) -- Hurricane Harvey quickly strengthened over very warm Gulf waters Thursday afternoon, forecast to become a major hurricane aiming for the Texas Gulf Coast. Late Thursday afternoon, the intensifying Harvey had highest winds of 85 mph and was moving north-northwest at 10 mph. Projections bring a category-3 major hurricane toward the central Texas coastal bend. It will then slow its overall movement, weaken, but still produce huge rain totals exceeding two feet in some cases over the course of three to five days. The remnants of Harvey next week may begin a slight drift to the east or northeast, over the Deep South states.
A disorganized tropical low lingers around the Florida peninsula, provide moisture and areas of rain. Development of the low while over land is not expected. However, the system will drift into the western Atlantic by Saturday, hover over the warm Gulf Stream waters, and may gather more organization. For the local region, it would produce a north to northeast wind flow which would actually usher in a drier air mass, while areas of cloudiness will remain.
A new disturbance emerged from western Africa into the Cape Verde region of the eastern Atlantic. Some development of this system is possible in the next few days, although it is very distant from the United States mainland.
