An area of disturbed weather about 1,200 miles east of the Windward Islands is fairly well-organized and could be upgraded to a hurricane by the time it reaches the Lesser Antilles at the end of the week.
Meteorologist Alan Archer said Monday afternoon the system is becoming better organized and defined. "There is one huge ball of heavy showers and thundershowers associated with it," he said, "and all conditions are favorable for development as we near the peak of the hurricane season in mid-September."
Archer said the huge storm center and its associated circulation were some 1,200 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. The weather system was located at 12 degrees north latitude, 43 degrees west longitude Monday afternoon and was moving to the west at 10-15 miles per hour.
He said computer forecast models used by the National Hurricane Center, in his opinion, have turned the system to the north and away from the islands much too early. "There is nothing to turn the system to the north, coupled with the fact that the upper-level winds which prevent development are virtually nonexistent at the present time," Archer said.
If the system is upgraded to a tropical storm it would be called Florence. The National Hurricane Center on Monday morning suggested that the system is well-organized and has the potential to become a tropical depression in the next day or two.
