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Bonnie headed toward South Florida.

Posted by Dave Osterberg under Daily updates

As of 5AM Friday, Tropical Storm Bonnie was still a minimal tropical storm. You can also se by satellite, that it is a small storm overall, and given the size and strength, it should have minimal impact in South Florida.  The only thing that has changed a bit in the past few hours, is it’s forward movement is a little faster. Thats good because it give Bonnie less chance of strengthening before moving over South Florida. With this fast movement, 1-3 inches of rain can be expected in South Florida with lesser amounts to the north. This would obviously not cause widespread flooding, and at this point even the Keys aren’t evacuating. Once Bonnie moves into the Gulf, it should continue WNW until a landfall along the Northern Gulf Coast, perhaps near New Orleans. That would bring the storm right over the area with the oil spill. It will be interesting to see what that does to the spill site. On one hand, it may break up some of that solid shield of oil, but on the otherhand, it may push more oil onshore.  Once Bonnie gets into the Gulf, given it’s forward movement speed and the fact that the upper low is still impacting it,  rapid intensification is not expected.  Thats great news, since we have seen what can happen when storms get into the Gulf. It may get a little stronger, but should maintain Tropical Storm status. Keep checking back to make sure Bonnie doesn’t decide to do something different this weekend.