‘Fierce’ Tropical Depression Expected This Week In Atlantic

MIAMI — People in the Eastern Caribbean don’t expect severe tropical weather in August, but the Atlantic Basin could have a new tropical depression later this week.

Satellite observations show a fierce tropical disturbance has emerged off the western coast of Africa and is moving west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph across the tropical Atlantic.

This disturbance has been dubbed Invest 97L by the National Hurricane Center. An invest is simply a naming convention used by the NHC to identify an area of weather that it is investigating for possible development into a tropical depression or tropical storm within the next five days.

The NHC is giving Invest 97L a 40 percent chance of development and says a tropical depression could form during the second half of the week ahead.

Computer forecast models suggest that dry air and upper-level winds could diminish enough for the disturbance to slowly organize and gain a center of circulation. Once a center is evident and winds are sustained at 30 to 35 mph, the NHC will declare the disturbance a tropical depression.