Labor Day forecast shows 4 areas with tropical development

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring four disturbances in the Atlantic that can develop into tropical storms — and even hurricanes — ahead of Labor Day weekend.

The center is actively watching the formations that could impact the US following the least active start of the Atlantic hurricane season in 30 years.

Weather forecasters are paying closest attention to a system developing over the central Atlantic ocean which has the greatest probability of the four formations to become the next named storm — Danielle.

“Although environmental conditions are only marginally conducive, some gradual development of this system is expected over the next several days and a tropical depression is likely to form later this week,” the National Hurricane Center stated in a tropical weather outlook report.

The center gave the system a 50% chance of advancing into a tropical system within the next 48 hours and an 80% chance of formation within the next five days.

It is expected to move west near the Leeward Islands in the coming days. However, it’s too early to determine its path beyond that, including whether it may affect Bermuda, the Bahamas or other areas.

Even if the storm doesn’t make landfall in the US, it is poised to create strong rip currents along portions of the East Coast and bring gusty winds to coastal areas just as Americans head to the beach to celebrate the long weekend.

Forecasters also have their eyes on the Caribbean Sea, where a low pressure system could develop later in the week with the potential for strengthening, according to weather.com.

An existing area of low pressure in the Central Atlantic, east of Bermuda, is also being monitored, the report said.

Just off the west coast of Africa, meanwhile, a tropical wave has popped up that could become a “short-lived” tropical depression over the far eastern Atlantic during the next few days.

The hurricane center gave it a 40% chance of developing in five days time.

In the Pacific, meanwhile, the hurricane center is watching two areas off the coast of Southwest Mexico for potential development.

“A tropical wave located a few hundred miles south-southwest of Acapulco, Mexico is producing an area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms,” the center said. “… [A] tropical depression can form later this week.

There is a 40% chance it will develop into a storm in five days time, but is expected to remain off the coast of Mexico, according to the center.