By Staff Writer
Residents and weather forecasters in Cayman and across the eastern and western Caribbean are keeping a close eye on a developing weather system in the far eastern Atlantic.
Currently a tropical wave, the US National Hurricane Centre which is tracking the system reports that it is showing signs of further intensification as it heads on a westerly track which in the coming days could bring it into the eastern Caribbean Island chain.
A slight west north westerly shift could very well eventually bring it in the vicinity of the Cayman Islands.
“This system has a high chance of tropical cyclone formation within 48 hours,” the NHC reported on Wednesday.
It said that showers and thunderstorms associated with this low pressure continue to show signs of organization.
“Environmental conditions are expected to remain conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to form during the next couple of days while the system moves generally westward at about 15 mph across the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the tropical wave was positioned a few hundred nnautical miles south of the Cabo Verde islands and moving to the west at 20 knots.
This tropical wave is said to have a 90% chance of cyclone formation in the coming days.
If it does develop and become a named storm it will be called Odette and will be the 15th storm of this year’s hurricane season.
While this system is regarded as “of growing concern for the Caribbean” by some regional forecasters, the current peak of the 2021 hurricane season is also seeing several bands of disturbed weather close to the Caribbean Island chain being monitored by the US National Hurricane Centre.
Those include another tropical wave in the eastern Caribbean Sea crossing the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and moving west at around 15 knots.
The NHC said that the wave has been producing scattered moderate rainfall and thunderstorms over the eastern Caribbean Sea between the Mona Passage, south of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Weather conditions for Cayman over the next few days according to the Cayman Islands National Weather Service (NWS) will see mainly partly cloudy skies with a 30 per cent chance of showers with possible thunder.
Winds are east to south-east 10 to 15 knots, and sea state slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet.
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