Central Atlantic may yield rare tropical depression by Tuesday

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

June 18,2017, 5:21:03PM,EDT

 

 In addition to the area Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to the Gulf Coast, tropical development is possible near the equator over the central Atlantic early this week.

The area of concern in the Atlantic basin is a tropical system, which has been designated as Potential Tropical Cyclone Two, that has been tracking westward from the coast of Africa the past several days.
This system has the opportunity to develop early this week as it continues to remain south of a zone of strong winds above the surface and dry, dusty air.
Tropical development in this part of the Atlantic during June is rare.

Should the system strengthen into a tropical storm prior to June 22, it would be the earliest named storm to form in this part of the Atlantic since official records were kept in 1851.
"On record, there have only been three tropical systems to form this far south in the central Atlantic during June," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.
These systems were the Trinidad hurricane in 1933, Tropical Storm Ana in 1979 and Tropical Depression Two in 2000.
While the system has been tracking over the open waters of the Atlantic, "there will be a period of gusty winds and downpours as the system crosses over or near Trinidad and Tobago from Monday evening into Tuesday morning," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.
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The heavy rain squalls may also spread over the southern Windward Islands as the system tracks into the eastern Caribbean Sea. Seas will also further build if the system strengthens.
"It would then track just north of northern Venezuela on Tuesday and Wednesday," Pydynowski said.
"By Tuesday night, we expect the development chance for this feature to wane due to either land interaction with the northern coast of South America and/or increasing disruptive winds over the central Caribbean Sea," he said.
Despite the window for development closing by midweek, the system may still track across the Caribbean with drenching showers and thunderstorms later this week. Those with shipping interests will have to remain alert for rough seas.
The next names on the list of tropical storms for the 2017 are Bret and Cindy.
Tropical Storm Arlene formed and dissipated in the middle of the Atlantic during April. Arlene never directly affected any land areas.