Tropical Storm Grace Tracks Westward Through Atlantic

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

September 6,2015; 11:33PM,EDT

 

 

Tropical Storm Grace is keeping the Atlantic Basin active in the days leading up to the peak of hurricane season.
After taking shape on Saturday south of the Cape Verde Islands, Tropical Storm Grace is currently tracking westward through the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Grace is proving that it is not following in the footsteps of Fred in both its track and intensity.

The storm will remain on a general westerly track heading over the open waters of the eastern and central Atlantic through much this week, posing hazards to only shipping interests.
"[Grace] will be slow to strengthen, unlike Fred which was fast to intensify," stated AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck. Fred strengthened from a tropical depression to a Category 1 hurricane in less than 36 hours in the final days of August.
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"Dry, dusty air to the north is the main inhibiting factor to why this system will not rapidly intensify," Smerbeck said, "and it is expanding with the system." However, the dry air should not totally overwhelm Grace and cause its demise.
Disruptive wind shear, however, should eventually take its toll on Grace.

"[Grace] is expected to begin encountering a band of very strong wind shear by midweek," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Anthony Sagliani.
Strong wind shear can weaken or lead to the total demise of a tropical system by displacing its thunderstorms from its center, essentially tearing it apart.
"It is possible that the storm will weaken into a tropical depression, or perhaps even a remnant low well before it encounters the Lesser Antilles," continued Sagliani.
Grace will wait until toward or during this coming weekend to reach the Lesser Antilles and Caribbean. A weakened tropical system without flooding rain or damaging winds would be beneficial to the parts of the Caribbean that are still in the midst of a drought and not cleaning up in the wake of the devastating floods from Erika.

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Those in the Lesser Antilles and elsewhere in the Caribbean should continue to check back with AccuWeather for any potential future impacts.
On the heels of this system, another tropical wave set to emerge from Africa on Monday will also have to be watched for future development and potential impacts on the Cape Verde Islands around Tuesday, mainly in the form of rain and gusty winds.
Grace is not the only feature being monitored by the AccuWeather Hurricane Center in the days leading up to the peak of hurricane season, which is Sept. 10.
Fred, once a hurricane, has weakened significantly due to strong wind shear and is now just a weak tropical rainstorm.
There is the possibility for Fred to restrengthen back into a tropical storm around the middle of this week as it moves into an area of lower wind shear. However, this window of redevelopment is small before a non-tropical system guides Fred south of the Azores and causing it to weaken once again.