Tropical Storm Maria forms in east Caribbean

What forecasters described earlier as a tropical depression has developed into Tropical Storm Maria, in the eastern Caribbean, the National Weather Service Miami said in its 5 p.m. advisory.

As that system strengthens, another farther east in the Atlantic has developed into Tropical Storm Lee. It’s still too early to tell what impact, if any, the systems will have on South Florida.

The islands Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Guadeloupe, Nevis and Montserrat issued hurricane watches on Saturday, meaning hurricane conditions are possible within that area.

St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines have all issued tropical storm watches, which means tropical storm conditions could be seen in those areas in the next 48 hours.

As of 8 p.m. Saturday, the closer system, now known as Tropical Storm Maria, is moving west at 19 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The storm’s maximum sustained winds have increased to 50 mph and it is expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches the Leeward Islands on Monday.

Chris Fisher, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Miami says low wind shear and warm waters are helping the storm develop.

Forecasters are also watching Tropical Storm Lee about 720 miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. That one is not expected to be a threat, Fisher said.

It is forecast to make a gradual turn to the westnorthwest early next week.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, TS Lee is moving west at 10 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. Conditions for development are expected to get worse after today, forecasters say.

“At this point, it doesn’t look like it should impact anything,” said Fisher. “It’s mainly going to be a fish storm at this point.”

The National Hurricane Center’s latest tropical weather maps show both as heading generally toward the Caribbean. It’s not possible to forecast with any certainty where they would go beyond that.

All this as Tropical Storm Jose once again morphed into a hurricane and continues to circle in the Atlantic.

As of a 5 p.m. advisory, Hurricane Jose had sustained winds of 80 mph and was moving northwest at 6 mph.

“It’s not going to have any impact in south Florida but folks in the Northeast will be keeping an eye on that,” Fisher said.

He said Jose is expected to maintain hurricanestrength winds but weaken into a tropical storm around the middle of next week due to the cooler waters further north and wind shear.

Jose is expected to stay a few hundred miles off the coast of North Carolina before staying east of Virginia Tuesday morning and east of Massachusetts Wednesday morning.

“We’ve still got a couple months of hurricane season so we have plenty of time for additional development over the next month or two,” Fisher said.