TROPICAL STORM BONNIE HEADS TOWARDS GULF OIL SPILL

Written by: Brian Neudorff

Around 6pm EDT Thursday night Tropical Depression 3 became Tropical Storm Bonnie. The second named storm this season in the Atlantic. As of 8am EDT, Bonnie had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph with higher gusts. It is expected to make it's first landfall later this afternoon some where over the Florida Keys and the Southern Florida Peninsula. Later tonight Bonnie should enter the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Bonnie is forecasted to produce 1 to 3 total inches of rain for south Florida with some localized spots receiving upwards of 5 inches.



Once in the Gulf of Mexico, Bonnie looks to move west-northwest towards the southeastern Louisiana coast, right over the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill site. As of this morning most forecasts do not have Bonnie reaching hurricane strength as it has to battle substantial upper level wind shear. There is a possibility it could reach hurricane strength but right now it is not expected to.