A cold front moving offshore the southeastern U.S. coast is expected to create gale conditions, impacting areas between the Bahamas and Bermuda starting Tuesday. The pressure gradient will increase behind a low-pressure system forming along the front, resulting in strong northeast winds and rough seas reaching over 15 kt, with conditions expected to gradually improve later in the week. A Gale Warning is issued for parts of the southwest Atlantic.
In the Gulf of America, a cold front extends from Apalachicola Bay to the area north of Veracruz, Mexico, causing strong to near gale north winds and scattered moderate convection. The front will move slowly southeast and bring thunderstorms and gusty winds. In the western Gulf, strong northeast winds and rough seas will continue, with improvements expected by Friday night as high pressure builds southwestward.
The Caribbean Sea experiences a benign trade wind pattern, with moderate to fresh east winds in the central and eastern regions, and gentle northeast winds in the west. Changes are expected mid-week as a trough north of Haiti will lead to mainly gentle winds in the western basin, with increasing winds in the south-central Caribbean.
In the Atlantic Ocean, moderate to fresh northeast to east winds prevail across central subtropical waters. Hazardous marine conditions are anticipated this week, especially northwest of a line from 31N60W to the southeast Bahamas, with very rough seas and gale conditions expected.
April 6, 2026, at 6:15 AM EDTThe 2026 Hurricane season starts on June 1, 2026 in
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecasted an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season for 2025.
Named Storms: 13 to 19
Hurricanes: 6 to 10
Major Hurricanes (Category 3 or higher): 3 to 5
Accumulate Cyclone Energy (ACE): 95% to 180% of the median
This forecast indicates a 60% chance of an above-normal season, a 30% chance of a near-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30Key: Active Past Future
*Press/click the storm name to view additional details2020 - 30 named storms, 14 hurricanes
Hurricane Katrina (2005) - $125 billion
Harvey (2017) - $125 billion
Hurricane Patricia (2015) - 215 mph (345 km/h)
Hurricane Allen (1980) - 190 mph (305 km/h)
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 rating system that classifies hurricanes based on their sustained wind speeds and the potential damage they can cause. It helps communicate the intensity of hurricanes and the likely impacts on structures and environments. The scale does not account for factors like storm surge or rainfall, focusing only on wind speeds.
Watching the Tropics was originally built as a personal storm tracker with only the most important charts for the Atlantic hurricane basin. Numerous sites are available for tracking hurricanes, but Watching the Tropics minimizes extra "noise" and shows only what you need.
Designed in Florida by
"Watching the tropics" refers to monitoring tropical weather systems, such as tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes, in regions close to the equator. Meteorologists and weather enthusiasts often use this phrase during hurricane season to indicate that they're keeping an eye on developing weather systems that could potentially strengthen and impact areas like the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean.
Websites, news outlets, or weather services also use "Tropics Watch" to keep the public informed about the latest developments in the tropics, especially during peak hurricane season.
An "invest" refers to an area of disturbed weather that meteorologists are investigating for potential tropical development. The term "invest" is short for "investigation area."
When an area is designated as an invest, it is given a number (between 90 and 99) followed by the letter "L" for systems in the North Atlantic or "E" for systems in the Eastern Pacific. For example, "Invest 91L" would refer to the 91st area of interest in the Atlantic basin for that season.
The designation of an invest allows meteorologists to focus their resources on a specific area, utilize specialized forecasting models, and issue updates as needed.
A tropical depression is a type of tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of less than 39 mph (34 knots or 63 km/h).
Key characteristics:
It's the first stage of development in the tropical cyclone classification used by the National Hurricane Center, followed by tropical storm and then hurricane.
