Tropical Storm Fred Might Ruin Your Weekend

Tropical Storm Fred formed in the Caribbean overnight. National Hurricane Service

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Tropical Storm Fred, the sixth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, formed in the Caribbean late Tuesday night, and it could spell doom for South Florida now that we're officially in the three-day cone.

While it's still unclear how the storm will affect South Florida, the National Hurricane Center says the entire state could start experiencing high winds and heavy rainfall beginning Friday in the Keys and spreading north into the Panhandle.

Here are the 5 AM AST Aug 11 Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Fred, which is currently approaching the Dominican Republic. More information: https://t.co/vbprzkjSVW pic.twitter.com/wtsCfTo0TR

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 11, 2021

As of Wednesday morning, Fred was churning toward the Dominican Republic. The country is expected to start seeing tropical storm conditions Wednesday morning.

Fred is the first named storm of August, following a quiet month of no named storms in the tropics. While the storm's path is still uncertain, most models forecast that after moving through the Straits of Florida it will veer into Gulf of Mexico and turn north toward the Panhandle.

A few models, however, predict the storm will hit Florida's Upper Keys and one outlier even has Fred making landfall on Florida's east coast near Jupiter.

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South Florida Water Management District

Even if Tropical Storm Fred turns a miraculous 180 degrees and veers back toward Africa, we beg you to please not to throw a hurricane party as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the state.