Say hi to Chantal, your next tropical storm

It’s really early in the Atlantic Hurricane Season, but we’ve already had two named storms.

But this morning, with a low pressure that’s been brewing off the northern Florida coast, he have number three.

Welcome Tropical Storm Chantal.

Positioned off Georgia, and in the extremely warm waters of the Gulf Stream and Atlantic coast, the cyclone doesn’t yet appear to have a significant chance of serious development.

But keep in mind, it was just five days ago that the Center gave the system only a 20 percent chance of growing stronger.

That changed quickly. Friday morning that number had grown to 70 percent.

As of Saturday morning, Chantal was moving slowly north.

But that path is forecast by several models to change – moving the storm slowly to the west and inland over mid-South Carolina before it heads towards the northeast.

That path would be slightly more troublesome for our region, as it would bring winds and plenty of rain from the worst part of a tropical system – the northeast quadrant.

Currently, a southwesterly wind shear has been causing the cyclone problems.

But if can still form into a tropical storm in that situation, it’s a sign of the storm’s potential power.

The bottom line here is simple – this is not going to be a big deal. It might get a little windy and wet and it could, Heaven forbid, turn into a stronger storm.

But for right now, it should be viewed as a wake-up call. We could have nothing this season or a hit from a serious hurricane – there’s no way to know.

So make sure your plan is in order, set up to take care of yourself and your animals, and ride anything out that we might get.