TAMPA, Fla. — Two tropical disturbances are brewing in the Atlantic, and one is forecasted to make its way into the Caribbean this week.
The tropical disturbances come less than a week after Hurricane Ian ravaged the southwest coast of Florida. The storm has killed at least 42 people in Lee County, where the worst of Ian made landfall, according to officials. The Tampa Bay area was largely spared, though about 13,000 people remained without power on Sunday.
A tropical wave several hundred miles east of the south Windward Islands was producing showers and thunderstorms on Monday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. The disturbance has become slightly better organized since Sunday and forecasters say the system could develop further.
The Hurricane Center said the wave was moving west at about 15 to 20 mph and will reach the Windward Islands and eastern Caribbean by midweek. The disturbances has a 30% chance of forming into a tropical depression within the next two days, and a 40% change of doing so within the next five days.
A second disturbance was several hundred miles south of the Cabo Verde Islands Monday morning and was producing disorganized storms. Forecasters say the cluster of storms could develop gradually and become a tropical depression by the middle of the week. However, the disturbance likely won’t develop beyond that, according to forecasters, due to upper-level winds.
The system is forecast to move west, then turn north or northwest by the end of the week over the eastern Atlantic.
The disturbance has a 50% chance of further formation in two days and a 70% chance in the next five days.
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