The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Depression Fred is disorganized and moving between eastern Cuba and the southern part of the Bahamas.
The storm is expected to not intensify much in the next day or two as it moves back over water and stays east of Louisiana, which is no longer in the cone of uncertainty.
The hurricane center is projecting a landfall likely in the Florida panhandle, but possibly as far west as the Alabama Gulf Coast.
“Fred is expected to remain a Depression through today and possibly becoming a storm once farther from the coast of northern Cuba on Friday,” said WWLTV’s meteorologists.
“When it emerges in the extreme southeastern Gulf of Mexico late Friday or Saturday, warm sea surface temperatures and waning wind shear could allow the storm to intensify some as it moves NW along the west Florida coast.”
Below is the latest from NHC:
At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Depression Fred was
located near latitude 20.7 North, longitude 74.2 West. The
depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph (26
km/h), and this motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected
during the next couple of days, followed by a turn to the northwest.
On the forecast track, Fred is expected to move across the
southeastern Bahamas today, move along or just north of eastern and
central Cuba later today and Friday, and be near the Florida Keys
and south Florida on Saturday.
Maximum sustained winds remain near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher
gusts. Little change in strength is forecast today, but slow
strengthening is expected Friday and this weekend. Providenciales
in the Turks and Caicos Islands recently reported a wind gust of
39 mph (63 km/h).
The minimum central pressure based on Air Force Reserve and NOAA
Hurricane Hunter aircraft data is 1011 mb (29.85 inches).