ORLANDO, Fla. – As of the 5 p.m. National Hurricane Center update Tropical Storm Fernand has formed in the southwestern Atlantic. As the storm moves northeast over the next few days it should stay well east of Bermuda.
Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph with higher gusts. Fernand could strengthen a little more before weakening is expected to begin Tuesday. This storm will stay over open water.
Meanwhile we continue to watch another tropical wave roughly 650 miles east of the Windward Islands.
Showers and thunderstorms associated with a tropical wave just to the east of the Windward Islands has increased and started showing signs of some organization.
The National Hurricane Center is now giving the wave a 40% chance for taking on additional tropical development over the next two-to-seven days and could become a tropical depression over the next day or two as it continues the path west. Locally heavy rainfall is expected over the Windward Islands tomorrow and Monday as the system passes by, reaching the central Caribbean by Tuesday where conditions are expected to become less favorable for further development.
We will continue to bring you more updates on what’s happening in the tropics as they unfold.