IMHO, we've got a shot at 3 systems in the upcoming week. 97L will move into the Western Gulf sometime tomorrow. Then it's just a matter of seeing what it's got. As we were discussing last weekend, it will either be a classified system (which I've thought all along except right after it died off south of Cuba) or it will be a surge of deep tropical moisture. With the cold front (I don't think it gets into the coastal waters east of Texas except maybe the extreme NW Gulf) changing the wind direction and the 'cool' high pressure over the central MS Valley, an ultimate turn to north should feed in some action into Texas (original thought) or perhaps Louisiana & Mississippi (current thinking). FWIW, this isn't a wishcast. The tropical moisture will get drawn into the front which will be in my backyard. The key with this system has always been to wait (patiently or impatiently) until it got into the Gulf of Mexico. With the ULL diving SW in front of it and with the front on its way (currently the dry line runs SW-NE from AZ to IA), it's going to be a question of timing.

As for 98L, the transformation to potentially something tropical is underway. The LLC has seen some convection but it needs more energy which should be supplied via the P.R. wave/surge in trade winds. Bastardi likens the potential "surprise" to 1985's Henri which out of the blue popped off the VA coast. He's not saying look at the VA coast, but there should be tons of tropical moisture with the front to rain out several of the big cities and areas further inland. He thinks it will move NW then North down the line.

Finally, the wave N of Puerto Rico seems to be most active on its southern flank. With the easterly push from behind, it can only go W or WNW. We'll have to wait and see if it wants to turn into something on its own or if it only wants to impart energy into the other systems.

Steve