Tropical storm warnings issued in the Caribbean

Forecasters also watching 2 other systems

Activity is heating up in the tropics with three storm systems brewing in the Atlantic hurricane basin, one of which is likely to become the next named storm of the season, forecasters said Monday.

It has a 70% chance of developing in the next two days and a 90% chance of developing in the next five days, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. update.

As of 8 p.m. Monday, the disturbance was about 670 miles east of Trinidad, moving west-northwest at about 18 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. Its maximum-sustained winds were at 40 mph and tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 60 miles north of its center.

If a depression forms, it would not be a threat to Florida based on the current forecast, which has it moving from the Atlantic Ocean then across the southeastern Caribbean Sea Wednesday through Friday.

The system likely will become a tropical storm before reaching the southern

Windward Islands, the eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea, the hurricane center said. It is expected to move over the southern Caribbean or near Venezuela’s northern coast Wednesday and Thursday.

Tropical storm warnings are in effect in Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago, meaning tropical-storm conditions could hit the area in the next 36 hours.

Regardless of its development, it is expected to bring between 4 and 6 inches to the northeastern coast of Venezuela, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago late Tuesday into Wednesday, the hurricane center’s 8 p.m. update said.

The islands in the far eastern Caribbean from Guadeloupe to St. Lucia are expected to see 1 to 3 inches of rain while St. Vincent, the Grenadines and Barbados will get 3 to 4 inches.

The NHC is also watching a second system, this one located in the northern Gulf of Mexico, closer to northwestern Florida.

This low pressure system is producing rain and thunderstorms. Some slow development is possible this week as it moves west-southwest, at about 10 mph, toward the coasts of southern Texas and northeastern Mexico, according to the NHC.

It has been given it a 20% chance of developing in the next five days and a 10% chance of developing in the next two days.

Whether or not it develops, it is expected to bring some rain to parts of the Gulf Coast.

“An influx of tropical moisture, streaming up from the Gulf of Mexico... [will lead] to downpours from Texas to the Florida Panhandle,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.

Less than two inches of rain is in the forecast for the

region, The Weather Channel reported.

Meanwhile, a tropical disturbance has emerged in the far eastern Atlantic off Africa’s coast. Forecasters said Monday that it could develop as it moves west-northwest over the central Atlantic this week.

It has been given a low chance of developing over the next five days.

The 2022 hurricane season is expected to be an above-average one.

Tropical Storm Alex, the Atlantic’s first named storm this year, developed on June 5 and dissipated over the Atlantic Ocean about 48 hours later.

Colorado State University’s hurricane season outlook, released in early June, forecasted 20 named storms, 10 hurricanes, and five major hurricanes.

The next named storm to form in the Atlantic would be called Bonnie.

COURTESY The National Hurricane Center monitored three disturbances in the Atlantic on Monday, one of which is likely to become a tropical storm in the next few days.