The United States’ National Hurricane Center (NHC) has begun active surveillance of an approaching tropical disturbance that is projected to exit the western coastline of Africa this coming Monday, kicking off a new period of heightened monitoring for potential cyclonic activity in the Atlantic basin.
After this tropical wave moves out over open Atlantic waters, meteorologists forecast that a low-pressure system could gradually develop in association with the disturbance. Current atmospheric and oceanic conditions across the region are only marginally supportive of further strengthening of the system, forecasters note.
Over the coming seven-day window, the emerging system has a 40% probability of organizing into a tropical depression as it tracks westward across the eastern and central portions of the tropical Atlantic, moving at a steady forward speed of between 15 and 20 miles per hour, according to NHC projections.
In addition to this newly identified African tropical wave, the NHC is also keeping close watch on two separate weather systems already located across the subtropical Atlantic. Both of these existing systems are rated as having a low probability of undergoing tropical or subtropical development over the next week, leaving the new disturbance off Africa as the highest-risk system currently being tracked by the center.