MIAMI – The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is monitoring a tropical wave swirling across the central tropical Atlantic that now has high odds of developing into a tropical depression or Tropical Storm Gabrielle later this week.
The FOX Forecast Center said the large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms is tied to a tropical disturbance south of the Cabo Verde Islands off the coast of Africa.
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Currently, the entire system is poorly organized and is moving through an area with dry, dusty Saharan air.
Due to that, the system likely won’t develop into a tropical depression for at least a few more days.
Later this week, the system will move into a more favorable environment, where it will likely develop into at least a tropical depression, and maybe even Tropical Storm Gabrielle.
And some computer forecast models show the system strengthening into a hurricane.
Some models show the system curving to the north and into the open central Atlantic, keeping it away from land.
Other models show it taking a path closer to the Caribbean and eventually toward Bermuda.
Currently, there’s no direct threat to Puerto Rico or nearby islands. However, since the system hasn’t fully formed yet, those forecasts can still change.