SAVANNAH, Ga. () — The second half of this week will keep the theme of warmer temperatures and higher humidity in the area.

Wednesday brought a warm and humid afternoon, with temperatures warming into the upper-80s to around 90°. Some spotty downpours popped up but a majority of the area remained dry.

For Thursday morning, temperatures will start in the mid-60s inland, and around 70 along the immediate coast. Partly cloudy skies early give way to mostly clear skies overnight.

Thursday through Saturday will bring similar conditions with a few clouds to partly cloudy skies along with warm and humid afternoons. High temperatures will reach the upper-80s to around 90° with a heat index in the lower-90s at times. There will be the chance for a few showers at times with the heating of the day but rain chances will not be appreciable.

Rain chances remain relatively spotty in nature until the weekend. A more unsettled pattern arrives Sunday with a cold front moving into the region. This will usher in rain chances of around 30% each day from Sunday through early next week.

The tropics have come back to life with Tropical Storm Gabrielle developing as a tropical depression at 5 AM, and strengthening into a tropical storm at 11 AM. The system is located well east of the Caribbean and continues to move to the northwest. The storm remains fairly lopsided with most convection being displaced from the center.

Gabrielle is forecast to move northwest followed by gradually turning northward. Wind shear will lessen over the next few days, leading to slow intensification into potentially the season’s next hurricane. The storm is no threat to the US, and may make a close approach to Bermuda next week.

Two other tropical waves have a low chance of developing into a depression or named storm over the next seven days. The lead disturbance is located near the Cabo Verde Islands with a 10% chance of developing, while the second disturbance is moving off the coast of Africa over the next day or so and has 20% odds.

Both areas to watch will slowly move westward across the Atlantic but they will also have dry air and Saharan Dust to contend with in Gabrielle’s wake.

There continues to be no tropical threats for the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry.