CRS-23 - L-1 Day

Deep, tropical moisture is in place over the area along with persistent east/southeasterly flow due to high pressure centered off the coast of the Carolinas. This set-up favors onshore-moving coastal showers and isolated thunderstorms, especially in the overnight and morning hours. Tropical Storm Ida, currently centered just south of Cuba, is expected to move into the Gulf over the weekend. Although it will not directly impact east central Florida, it will usher in plentiful mid and upper level moisture over the Florida peninsula. Because of this and the scattered coastal showers, the primary concerns for the launch window on Saturday morning are the Cumulus Cloud Rule, the Flight Through Precipitation constraint, and the Thick Cloud Layers Rule. For the back-up window on Sunday morning, we remain in a similar pattern with continued onshore flow. Tropical Storm Ida will continue to develop in the Gulf, but it will likely be far enough west to allow moisture levels to decrease. Thus, the primary concerns remain the same as on Saturday but with a lower probability of violation.