National Hurricane Center monitoring 2 areas for possible tropical development in Atlantic
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two areas of low pressure for possible tropical or subtropical development in the Atlantic, including one moving toward Portugal and northwestern Spain.
Development chances remain low for both systems, with neither currently given more than a 20% chance of formation.
Low pressure moving toward Portugal, Spain
A non-tropical area of low pressure is developing along a front over the northeastern Atlantic, a few hundred miles north-northeast of the Azores.
A front, a boundary separating two different air masses, can produce clouds, rain and areas of low pressure. Because the system is currently attached to that front, it is considered non-tropical.
National Hurricane Center monitoring 2 areas for possible tropical development in Atlantic. (WPEC)
However, the National Hurricane Center says the low could separate from the front and acquire some subtropical or tropical characteristics Saturday or early Sunday.
A subtropical cyclone, a storm that has characteristics of both tropical and non-tropical weather systems, can sometimes develop when an existing area of low pressure becomes more organized over the ocean.
The system is expected to move east-southeast at 10 to 15 mph toward Portugal and northwestern Spain.
The National Hurricane Center gives the disturbance a 20% chance of development during the next 48 hours and a 20% chance during the next seven days.
Another disturbance east of Bermuda
A second area is being monitored several hundred miles east-southeast of Bermuda over the central subtropical Atlantic.
National Hurricane Center monitoring 2 areas for possible tropical development in Atlantic. (WPEC)
The weak area of low pressure is producing a concentrated region of showers and thunderstorms southeast of its center.
However, surface pressures remain relatively high, an indication that the low is not particularly strong or well-defined. Because of that, any tropical development is expected to occur slowly, if it happens at all.
The disturbance will drift west-southwest through Sunday before turning northward early next week.
The National Hurricane Center gives the system a 10% chance of development during the next 48 hours and a 20% chance during the next seven days.
Development chances remain low
Neither disturbance currently poses an immediate tropical threat to the United States.
The system east of Bermuda remains poorly organized and has only a small window for development, while the northeastern Atlantic disturbance is moving toward Europe.
Even if the system approaching Europe does not become a tropical or subtropical cyclone, it could still bring unsettled weather as it moves toward Portugal and northwestern Spain.