Another storm brewing in the Atlantic?

As Tropical Storm Ida moves ashore this morning across the Alabama coast and the Florida Panhandle, we couldn't help but notice that the National Hurricane Center had noticed a large area of low pressure in the Atlantic Ocean, several hundred miles north-northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands.

Currently, the Hurricane Center said there is less than 30 percent chance that gale-force winds and high seas will develop into a tropical storm, but along with Ida, the activity reminds us there is still almost a month to go in the official hurricane season for the year.

If the system beats the odds and turns into something for us to really worry about, it will be named Joaquin.

As for Ida's possible effect on our weather, the National Weather Service was forecasting that "deep tropical moisture" in the storm's wake would produce possibly heavy thunderstorms starting later today and through Wednesday. There was a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms this afternoon, increasing to 70 percent tonight and 60 percent on Wednesday.