Staff Report ATLANTIC OCEAN — The National Hurricane Center has downgaded the former TD 2 and says,”there is a medium chance…30 to 50 percent…of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.” The system being watched closely now is called Invest 90, as there is a “high chance…greater than 50 percent…of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.”As of the 8 a.m. advisory, Invest 90 is located near north latitude 12.1 and west longitude 26.5 with sustained winds of 30 mph and a westerly movement at 14 miles per hour. NHC discussion about this system sais, “shower and thunderstorm activity has increased over the past few hours in association with a broad area of low pressure centered about 175 miles south-southwest of the southern Cape Verde Islands. Conditions appear favorable for further development of this system…and a tropical depression could form during the next day or two as it moves westward at 10 to 15 mph.”Dr. Jeff Masters, former hurricane hunter and co-founder of the Weather Underground, posted in his blog this morning that satellite images of Invest 90 “show that the heavy thunderstorms associated with 90L are gradually becoming better organized, with some spiral banding evident on the south side of the storm. Satellite intensity estimates from NOAA already put 90L at tropical depression strength with 30 mph winds, but the storm does not yet have a well enough formed circulation to be classified as a depression.”Computer models of participating members of the Global Forecasting System Ensemble compiled at 8 a.m. Friday are in fair agreement at this time, click on the map below from the Weather Undergroung to enlarge.
