Atlantic Tropical Disturbance Under Close Watch

BY SHERRI LONON

While it’s still too early to tell for certain if a large tropical disturbance kicking up in the Atlantic will eventually form into a named storm, the National Weather Service is monitoring its development closely.

As of Monday evening, the area of low pressure was located several hundred miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands and was ”gradually becoming more organized,” according to the National Weather Service. Weather service forecasters say the storm has a 60 percent chance of forming into a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours. Those chances rise to 80 over the next five days.

“Environmental conditions appear conducive for additional development of this system, and a tropical depression will likely form within the next few days while the system moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph,” the National Hurricane Center wrote in its 8 p.m. Monday update.

As of Monday evening, the storm posed no immediate threat to the United States, but forecasters say it bears careful monitoring.

Here on Long Island, there’s a chance of showers and thunderstorms each day for the rest of the work week. The chance of rain rises from 30 percent on Tuesday and Wednesday to 50 percent on Thursday night and 70 percent on Friday, according to the NWS.

The sweltering summer heat, however, will slowly simmer down. After a high near 86 on Tuesday, high temperatures on Long Island will drop a few degrees to the low-80s for the latter half of the week.

Check out your local Patch’s homepage for an extended forecast for your neighborhood.

Graphic courtesy of the National Hurricane Center