A tropical disturbance full of shower and thunderstorm activity that had been dubbed Invest 90L by the National Hurricane Center has become more organized and is now designated Tropical Depression Seventeen.
A tropical depression has maximum sustained winds of 38 mph or less, and it is the weakest form of any tropical cyclone.
The tropical disturbance moved off the western coast of Africa several days ago. It has since made its way westward at 10-15 mph across the central and eastern Atlantic, gaining strength along the way to become Seventeen.
The NHC expects Seventeen to continue to strengthen, reaching tropical storm status as early as Sunday morning. It will become the 16th named storm in the Atlantic and dubbed Tropical Storm Philippe. The storms will continue to slowly get stronger through the week.
Forecasters will closely keep track.
“The system is forecast to track in the general direction of the Caribbean islands for the next few days,” said FOX Weather hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross. “But the dip in the jet stream that will eventually move what’s left of Ophelia away from the U.S. is expected to also pull likely-Philippe to the north before it gets to the islands. We’ll want to watch to be sure it turns, but the long-range forecasts have come into good agreement.