Afternoon Update: Tropical storm could form from this weather system. Within 48 hours, Ernesto— NHC

Afternoon Update: Tropical storm could form from this weather system. Within 48 hours, Ernesto— NHC

Tropical storm could form from this weather system. Within 48 hours, Ernesto— NHC

Barbados’s Bridgetown (CMC)— Within the next 48 hours, a disturbance a few hundred miles off the Lesser Antilles might intensify into Tropical Storm Ernesto, the sixth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, according to a warning issued on Monday by the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The government of Antigua and Barbuda has raised its tropical storm watch to a warning, which now encompasses the islands of Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, and Anguilla, according to the NHC’s most recent advisory.

The French islands of Guadeloupe, St. Martin, and St. Barthelemy, as well as the Dutch Caribbean islands of Saba and St. Eustatius, are all under a similar alert.

Puerto Rico, the US and British Virgin Islands, and the Virgin Islands are still under a tropical storm watch.

Over the next few days, a westward to west-northwestward motion is anticipated with a little drop in forward speed. The disturbance is predicted to traverse parts of the Leeward Islands late tonight or Tuesday, according to the forecast track, and to approach the US, British Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico on Tuesday evening, according to the NHC.

It stated that “some strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days” and that the maximum sustained winds are close to 30 mph with greater gusts.

As it approaches the Leeward Islands, the disturbance is predicted to strengthen into a tropical storm. It is predicted to become a tropical depression later today or tonight, according to NHC.