Tropical Storm Ida May Form in Atlantic This Week

By Becky Elliott, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

September 14,2015; 11:00PM,EDT

 

 

The Atlantic hurricane season is still in full swing and one tropical system in the central part of the basin may strengthen into Tropical Storm Ida.
The system, which the National Hurricane Center has designated 93L, is spinning several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde islands.
"The area of clouds, showers and thunderstorms across this feature continues to show signs of rotation. If this continues, it could become a depression or storm within the next 12-24 hours," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist and Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.
This animated satellite image shows 93L tracking nearly due west across the Atlantic Ocean. (NOAA/Satellite)
This area of clouds and thunderstorms will continue tracking west for a day or two. The disturbance will then come under the influence of the jet stream as it digs southward across the central Atlantic.
The jet stream will force 93L to take a northward turn into the open waters of the Atlantic by the end of the week. This northward track will keep the system well away from the coast of the United States and the chance for any threat to land looks to be quite low.

The cluster of storms will track over warm ocean waters that are favorable for development. The evolving system could even become a hurricane, Kottlowski said.
However, the tropical system will encounter moderate wind shear and this could be a limiting factor in how intense the storm can become.
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"After making the northward turn, the system will get hung up in the open waters of the central Atlantic and is not forecast to be a threat to land through at least this weekend," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Steve Travis.
Additional Tropical Threats in Atlantic This Week
Another cluster of showers and thunderstorms moved off the coast of Africa over the weekend. This system will move into an environment favorable for tropical development and could strengthen into an organized system later this week.
It is too early to determine whether this second feature would be any threat to land.
The last item of concern in the tropics is an area of unsettled weather located approximately 90 miles southeast of Tampico, Mexico.

The system is currently in an environment too hostile for further development. However, if the cluster of storms can hold together a few more days, wind shear in the area will relax. This could lead to a more organized tropical system that may impact Mexico.
So far, eight tropical systems have developed in the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The most recent system was Henri, who is bringing rain and wind to western Europe as a tropical rainstorm.