Barbados Today

ST JOHN’S, Antigua –– Residents are being urged to monitor tropical depression number two, which is expected to hit the Leeward Islands by tomorrow or Friday this week.

The warning comes from Met Office Director Keithley Meade, who said there was uncertainty on the development of the system, but it had the potential to become a tropical storm.

“There is still a bit of uncertainty with the system but one thing is certain is that it will be in our area . . . as such we are monitoring it closely for any development,” Meade said.

He added that while predicting the development of the storm was difficult, the trajectory was almost certain.

“The system is likely to struggle a bit as it enters into more hostile areas,” Meade said. “There are some models that are predicting that it will become a tropical storm by the time it reaches here on Thursday or Friday.”

Meade said in order for the development into a tropical storm, the system required specific conditions to persist over the Atlantic Ocean.

“The sea surface temperature has to be greater than 26 degrees Celsius and at the moment across the Atlantic in the area where the system is, it’s just marginal,” he said.

The meteorologist said the quantity of dust in the atmosphere and the wind shear would also hamper the system’s development.

Arthur, which developed into a tropical storm on July 1, was the first named for the 2014 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The prediction is there will be 11 named storms, five of which will develop into hurricanes, with at least two of them being major.

According to Weather Services International, the 2014 season is expected to be a slow hurricane season.

(Daily Observer)