TropicalAnalystwx13 wrote:wxman57 wrote:It does appear that Chantal's energy has split. Weak area of squalls moved north into Bahamas but that's some significant convection firing NW of Jamaica. That would be the area to watch, not the Bahamas.
The significant blow-up of convection northwest of Jamaica is just a result of maximized upper-air divergence from the upper-level low to its northwest and a result of marginal convergence from where the air is slowing down and piling up on the southwest periphery of the high over the western Atlantic. It might have to be watched as it tracks westward, but it's not an immediate threat.
The area over the Bahamas is a surface trough in relation to the remnants of Chantal. It appears an area of low pressure is trying to form in the central Bahamas, and conditions are actually pretty favorable for such. The NHC mentions "hostile" conditions, but wind shear is less than 20 knots per UW-CIMSS maps. Both the 12z GFS and CMC show redevelopment of this feature into a tropical storm as it heads for North Carolina and South Carolina. This is the feature that should be watched.
The NHC will investigate this area tomorrow afternoon.
The 12z GFS shows at +27 hours a redeveloped Chantal as what looks to be a weak TS passing somewhere between West Palm Beach and Freeport, Bahamas