Tropical Storm Chris - Morning 2

Chris inches closer to hurricane status this morning with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and a minimum central pressure of 1001 mb. Chris is now forecast to become a hurricane by Thursday and pass between Florida and Cuba Sunday night. Warm water and low shear are creating favorable conditions for development, so Chris may even become a hurricane by this afternoon. The current forecast track takes this system over very little land and into the Gulf, which gives it another important element that hurricanes need to form: time. The more time over water and the less time over land, the more potential for a strong hurricane. So Florida and the Gulf Coast need to watch this one closely.