The development chances for Invest 98L in the Atlantic Ocean have increased, and forecasters say our next named storm – Ernesto – could form this week.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Forecasters are continuing to monitor a tropical disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean that has a high chance of developing into our next named storm in the coming days – Ernesto.
The tropical disturbance, which has been designated Invest 98L, is still about 1,000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, but the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says the large area of showers and thunderstorms is continuing to become better organized.
(FOX Weather)
An invest is a term used by the NHC to indicate an area in the tropics that is being investigated for possible tropical development.
According to the NHC, environmental conditions are favorable for the development of the system, and a tropical depression is likely to form within the next couple of days while the system moves near or over the Leeward Islands.
After that, forecasters believe the system could strengthen further and become a tropical storm or hurricane.
As a result, people living, working or traveling to the region should monitor conditions as Tropical Storm Watches or Warnings could be issued as soon as Sunday.
The system could then approach portions of the Greater Antilles by the middle of the week.
(FOX Weather)
It is too early to say with certainty if future Ernesto will have any impacts on the U.S. mainland. However, people in the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands could see impacts from the storm by as early as Tuesday.
This comes on the heels of long-lived and deadly Debby, which brought flooding, tornadoes and high winds to the eastern U.S. last week. It made its first U.S. landfall in Florida last Monday as a Category 1 hurricane. It made a second landfall in South Carolina as a tropical storm on Thursday.