Tropical storm watches are posted across several of the Leeward Islands as a westward-moving tropical depression is slated to move across the region over the next day or two.
The depression formed out of a tropical wave in the Eastern Caribbean on Friday evening.
On Saturday morning, it remained poorly organized about 572 miles east southeast of the Virgin Islands. At 8 a.m., the center of the system was located near 16.4 degrees north latitude, 56.5 degrees west longitude. The depression is moving towards the west at 15 miles per hour.
Hurricane forecaster Richard Pasch said Saturday, the westerly motion should continue through Sunday with some strengthening likely over the next 24 hours. "This depression could also be upgraded to Tropical Storm Helene later today depending on what a hurricane hunter aircraft finds when it gets to the depression in the next hour or two."
Meteorologist Alan Archer noted that the depression contains a lot of thundershower activity to its east. "High-level winds are hampering development and should probably prevail until after it passes south of the Virgin Islands on Sunday afternoon." He said all residents and visitors in the Virgin Islands should monitor its progress closely. "What we need to keep a watch on is if it develops after it enter the Caribbean region, that could be a deciding factor in the future track of this weather system," Archer said.
Advisories are being issued every three hours by the National Hurricane Center. Archer's forecast can be heard on the Knight Quality Stations weather information line at 774-4786.
Today's weather across the Virgin Islands can be viewed by clicking on the rainbow icon at the top of the Source menu.
