Tropical wave has 50% chance of developing, Hurricane Center says

A tropical wave that formed in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles west of the African coast has a 50% chance of becoming at least a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center said.

The showers and thunderstorms “continue to show signs of organization,” the hurricane center said in its 8 p.m. Sunday tropical weather outlook.

“Environmental conditions appear conducive enough to support additional development of this system, and a tropical depression could form during the next few days while it moves generally westward at 15 mph across the tropical Atlantic,” the outlook said.

However, the conditions for sustained cyclone development don’t seem likely.

“Conditions are likely to become less conducive for development late this week,” the hurricane center said.

Although the disturbance is over 3,000 miles away from Fort Lauderdale, it’s coalescing in an area where storms tend to form as the hurricane season gets closer to its September peak.

These storms, historically the most powerful and destructive of all hurricanes, gain strength as they churn westward across the Atlantic Ocean, moving through the Caribbean and often up toward Florida or other parts of the U.S. coastline.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, a weak system that had been a few hundred miles to the west of the new wave fell apart on Saturday evening.

The 2020 season is already off at a record-setting pace, having produced nine named storms, including two hurricanes.