Hurricane Watch: What Does Storm Sara Mean for Central Florida?

After the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the history-making course set by Rafael, a new storm has entered the arena with chances of becoming the next named system of the 2024 hurricane season.

In late September, Hurricane Helene, the fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2024 season, battered Florida, leading to the deaths of over 200 people. Just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton struck the Sunshine State, once again causing devastating effects and leading to the closures of multiple Central Florida attractions like Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando Resort.

The storms’ effects were so severe in multiple U.S. states that celebrities like Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift stepped in to offer financial support for the communities hit by the storms. Now, over a month after Hurricane Milton, a new development has come to the attention of the National Hurricane Center, leading to concerns for Florida.

“[The] National Hurricane Center has highlighted our newest area of interest and already bumped odds up to a 40% chance of development by this time next week,” Click Orlando reports. “It is looking more and more likely we will have our next named storm in the south-central Caribbean by this weekend at the earliest.”

If named, the storm will be known as Sara. Sara will come after Hurricane Rafael took a history-making course earlier this month, turning west in the Gulf of Mexico instead of heading toward Florida as most other November storms have done in recorded history. Rafael’s strange path could, as Click Orlando puts it, open the door for Sara to progress toward the United States’ East Coast.

“The trough extending down toward the south opens up a pathway for the system to not only take advantage of additional rising motions in the atmosphere but to naturally gravitate toward this area of low pressure,” the report notes.

They add: “There is another large cold front expected to come through the eastern half of the country shortly after this initial push of cooler, drier air. That’s the key in terms of determining if this future feature could head our way or completely disappear thanks to the fresh batch of shear and dry air associated with our fall front.”

According to this analysis, the two successive cold fronts hitting Florida “will alter the large-scale steering pattern for this tropical low pressure,” potentially causing the storm to be swept into the Gulf of Mexico and on a course for the Sunshine State.

This will be one of the last storms of the 2024 hurricane season, which ends on December 1, ahead of Christmas and New Year’s.

How do you feel about a new storm developing in the Caribbean? Let Disney Fanatic know in the comments down below!