Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami are monitoring a fast-developing area of low pressure in the central tropical Atlantic that could briefly become a tropical storm on Thursday.
The system, designated Invest AL96, is situated roughly halfway between the western coast of Africa and the Windward Islands.
Satellite and microwave data gathered early Thursday morning show the disturbance became significantly better organized overnight, prompting meteorologists to assign it a 90 percent chance of tropical cyclone formation over the next 48 hours and seven days.
According to forecasters, “If the current trends continue, advisories could be initiated on a short-lived tropical storm later today.”
Any storm that forms is unlikely to stick around for long, however. The agency noted that “environmental conditions are expected to become hostile beginning on Friday, likely ending its chances for further development.” Even with limited time over favorable water, the disturbance is forecast to bring building winds and rougher seas to portions of the tropical North Atlantic through the coming weekend.
Elsewhere across the tropics, the National Hurricane Center has issued a gale warning for coastal waters off Colombia.
A tight pressure gradient between a high-pressure ridge to the north and low pressure over Colombia is driving strong trade winds across the south-central Caribbean, with winds expected to pulse to gale force overnight alongside rough to very rough seas.
Two tropical waves are also tracking westward across the eastern and central Caribbean, though neither is producing significant thunderstorm activity.
In the Gulf, light winds and moderate seas remain in place under a weak high-pressure system. A frontal boundary meandering near the northern Gulf coast is expected to trigger scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms over the next several days, bringing locally gusty winds and choppy seas for mariners in the area.
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