Breakfast Brief: East U.S. storms, tropical wave near Fla.

Showers and thunderstorms focus across the Mid-Atlantic, a large tropical wave pushes closer to Florida and extreme heat plagues the South and West.

A low-pressure system will move east over the Great Lakes today, sparking showers and thunderstorms across much of the northeastern U.S. A few isolated storms may become particularly strong, with damaging winds and heavy, flooding rain, mainly in the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and eastern Deep South. Keep the WeatherRadar close to pinpoint storm development and movement.

A summer heatwave will persist across portions of the South and West with feels like temperatures in the 90s and 100s across the Mid-South. Daily high-temperature records are likely today across the Northwest's Intermountain region, with highs in the lower 100s for places like Boise, Idaho, and Spokane, Wash.

A large tropical wave associated with disorganized showers and thunderstorms is pushing northeast across the northern Caribbean, bringing heavy downpours and gusty conditions to the Bahamas and Greater Antilles. As the system continues to move northeast, environmental conditions will become more favorable for development, and a tropical depression could form by the weekend near Florida.

Hurricane Carlotta is moving west across the East Pacific and is expected to continue strengthening as it heads deeper into the ocean. No significant impacts to land are anticipated.

With dozens of active fires across the West and Rockies, many areas are experiencing deteriorated air quality due to haze and smoke. Use Weather & Radar's air quality tool to check the air quality in your area.