Oscar's last day then the tropics take a break

Tropical Storm Oscar is on its last legs. Clusters of gusty thunderstorms are scattered across the Southeastern Bahamas. North of there, little bad weather is associated with the ragged center of the circulation, which is tracking between Long Island and Acklins Island in the central part of the Bahamian archipelago.

Hurricane Hunters are finding a broad system with very little wind near the circulation center. Oscar will officially be declared unraveled soon. By later today, the leftover gusty squalls will have moved into the open ocean.

Oscar will merge or evolve into a non-tropical system to the north and become a strong North Atlantic storm - a typical evolution for this time of year.

There is nothing in the pipeline for at least the next week. Strong upper-level winds - a wintertime pattern - will settle over the northern Gulf and Florida, keeping storms away. The tropical environment over the Caribbean will remain conducive to development, however, so we'll continue to watch there.