What Is Invest 98L? Florida urged to be prepared for potential tropical storm this week

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What Is Invest 98L?

'Invest' is a shortened version of the term 'investigation'. The National Hurricane Center uses numbers from 90 to 99  to simply highlight areas of disturbed weather, with the letter referring to the basin that entity is in. 'L' is the letter for the Atlantic. Another example is the Pacific, which has the letter 'E'. The NHC will start up again with 90 after all of the numbers have been used up.

In the present situation, a combination of heavy rainfall, high winds, and offshore seas of up to 25 feet, accompanied by a tide made stronger by November's full moon, is expected to aggravate flooding. “Hurricane season is apparently not done with us yet,” said Michael Brennan, acting deputy director of the NHC, in a briefing on Sunday, November 6, according to The Palm Beach Post. “The point I want to emphasize is the scale of the system is very large and we will see impacts over a large area.”

The disturbance had not formed a closed center of circulation as of the afternoon of November 6, which would designate it a tropical cyclone. Once it forms a closed center of circulation, forecasters get a clearer fix on where the system is heading.

"As the Division continues to support communities in their recovery from Hurricane Ian, we are now closely monitoring 98L," FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie said in a statement. “It is critical for Floridians to review their disaster preparedness plans and follow all directions from local officials in anticipation of potential impacts.”

“Regardless of intensity or exact path of the system, Floridians are reminded to prepare for an increased risk of coastal flooding, heavy winds, rain, rip currents, and beach erosion,” emergency management officials said, adding, “Wind gusts can be expected as soon as Tuesday along Florida's East Coast.”