HURRICANE SEASON PEAKS WITH SURGE OF WEATHER ACTIVITY

By Staff Writer

Weather experts are keeping close tabs on a newly developed area of tropical weather disturbance in the Atlantic that’s heading westwards in the general direction of the northern Caribbean.

Initially labelled as Invest 95L - weather system under investigation for potential development - the US National Hurricane Center has said there was a 90 per cent chance of the system developing into a tropical storm or depression, and possibly a hurricane.

It was already showing signs of organisation and conditions favoured further development as early as mid-week.

It’s the latest system is a sudden surge of activity in the 2023 hurricane season so far which is now hitting its September peak.

“The low-level circulation has become better defined since yesterday, with increasing organization in the shower and thunderstorm activity,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Modelling was pointing to additional strengthening likely late this week while the system moves westward to west-north-westward at 15 to 20 mph over the central and western portions of the tropical Atlantic.

Projections suggest that it has a 100% chance of tropical cyclone formation over the next seven days.

The next name on the list of storms for this hurricane season is Lee.

The National Hurricane Center has tentatively scheduled a Hurricane Hunter mission into this system for Thursday.

“This system will track toward the west-northwest. That will bring it over increasingly warm ocean water, though it may have to battle some dry air in the Atlantic’s main development region east of the Lesser Antilles. On that track, the system would reach the Lesser Antilles by this weekend, and it’s increasingly likely to be a hurricane at that time.”

The projected path of the storm was initially uncertain with the possibility that it could track to the north of the northern Leeward Islands or whether it would continue on a more westerly path which would bring it into the northern Caribbean Sea.

The early expectations are for the system to bring inclement weather initially to the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico areas.

While the developing system poses no immediate threat to Cayman, residents are advised to remain alert and prepared to respond to any change in the situation.