As of Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center predicted a 6 0% chance of forming into a tropical storm this weekend or early next week. If it strengthens into a tropical storm, it will be named Chantal,

The Fourth of July will bring mostly sunny skies over the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina, but afternoon storm chances may rise for beachgoers in the Carolinas by Friday afternoon. The WXII 12 First Warning Weather team has been monitoring the Atlantic for tropical development from a broad area of disturbed weather that extends from Florida northward over the Gulf Stream.

The National Hurricane Center is tracking a “disturbance” that could intensify in the coming days. A tropical system and the heavy rains accompanying it could lead to flash flooding across Florida and other parts of the coastal Southeast this weekend.

An area of low pressure is forming off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. The system could develop into a tropical storm or tropical depression later Friday.

A disturbance located about 100 miles offshore of the northeast Florida Coast could become a short-lived tropical depression or storm over the holiday weekend. Heavy rains and rip currents will be possible for parts of Florida, Georgia and the coastal Carolinas, and the storm could even get a name.

A disturbance near the coast of the Southeast U.S. now appears likely to form later today or sometime this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center. The disturbance is not expected to have any impact on Louisiana as the system drifts northward.

Radar and satellite show a circulation trying to spin up offshore of North Florida. An old cold front has sagged into the area and become the main trigger for a potential tropical system to develop. This is not an uncommon scenario early in the hurricane season.