Tropical system may brew near southeastern U.S. coast Memorial Day weekend

People from Florida to Georgia, the Carolinas and the Bahamas may want to keep an eye on the tropics in the coming days, according to Accuweather.

Conditions will become favorable for tropical development over the Atlantic Ocean, in the vicinity of the southeastern United States, toward the end of May into early June, just in time to ruin Memorial Day plans, AccuWeather reports.

"While tropical development a week an advance is not a certainty, we will be closely monitoring the area near the Bahamas beginning during Memorial Day weekend,” according to AccuWeather hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski.

“Waters in the area are sufficiently warm enough and winds aloft are light enough to initiate and sustain a tropical system,” Kottlowski said.

Surf temperatures in the region are about 80 degrees. Winds aloft over the area are light and are forecast to remain light into next week.

“Movement and development of the system, should it form, will be slow at first,” Kottlowski said. “However, a general drift toward the north and west is likely with any storm that forms over the region.”

Steering winds could direct the system close to the U.S. coast during next week.

Even in absence of a full-blown tropical storm or hurricane, downpours and thunderstorms will increase over the region from the Bahamas westward to the southern Atlantic coast of the U.S. later this weekend into next week. In addition, surf conditions would get increasingly rough from the eastern Florida coast to North Carolina.

Beach, boating and cruise interests in the region should monitor the situation.

Should the area of disturbed weather develop into a tropical system, it would be named Bonnie, since Alex was the first official tropical storm and hurricane of 2016. Alex formed over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on Jan. 13, became a hurricane on Jan. 14 and dissipated on Jan. 15. Alex was the first January hurricane to occur in the Atlantic since 1955.

AccuWeather is projecting an above-average number of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic basin this season.

According to the Weather Channel, the area off the Southeast coast, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and northwest Caribbean, is a part of the Atlantic basin where early-season tropical or subtropical storm development is most likely.

Recent seasons have had activity before the start of June, the Weather Channel reports. Tropical Storm Ana formed off the Southeast coast last May before hitting near Myrtle Beach.

As of Tuesday morning, here is the weekend forecast for Hilton Head Island:

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Tropical system may brew near southeastern U.S. coast Memorial Day weekend."