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Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsLocal newsForecasters Tracking Two New Tropical Waves

Forecasters Tracking Two New Tropical Waves

With Tropical Storm Fiona spinning off across the Atlantic to the northwest, apparently posing no real threat to the Caribbean, forecasters are tracking a pair of tropical waves that may develop in the coming week as the 2016 hurricane system ramps up.

Fiona is in the mid-Atlantic, moving toward the west-northwest at about 10 mph. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to about 40 mph with higher gusts. Some additional weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, the National Hurricane Center reported, and Fiona is expected to weaken to a depression over the weekend.

A tropical wave, however, designated Invest 99L, about 600 miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands is producing a disorganized area of cloudiness and shower activity, according to the NHC forecasters.

Development of the system, if any, during the next couple of days should be slow to occur as the system encounters a dry and stable air mass. By early next week, environmental conditions are expected to become more conducive for development and a tropical depression could form while the system moves westward at about 15 mph across the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

In its 2 p.m. Friday update, the National Hurricane Center gave the system a 10 percent chance of further development in the next 48 hours, but a 50 percent chance of such development through five days.

A second tropical wave is expected to move off of the coast of Africa on Saturday, the center said.

While forecasters said environmental conditions "appear conducive" for gradual development early next week as it moves generally west-northwestward, it gave a low chance of formation. The center said there is no chance of it developing in the next 48 hours and only a 30 percent chance within five days.

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