Overview
- A tropical storm watch was issued Monday for the Florida Panhandle from the Ochlockonee River to the Alabama border after a near‑stationary depression about 190 miles south‑southeast of Panama City showed 30 mph winds.
- The National Hurricane Center expects the Gulf depression to strengthen into Tropical Storm Bertha early this week, with models showing peak winds near 60 mph by midweek as it moves slowly west toward Texas.
- Slow forward motion increases the threat of heavy, prolonged rainfall and coastal flooding for northern Florida, southern Alabama and eastern Louisiana, and authorities say tropical‑storm conditions are possible within about 48 hours in the watch area.
- In the eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Fausto formed off Mexico and is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane by Monday night as the basin benefits from a strengthening El Niño pattern.
- Colorado State University projects a below‑average Atlantic season with nine named storms in 2026, and meteorologists attribute the reduced outlook to El Niño‑driven wind shear that tends to inhibit storm formation in the Atlantic.