Caribbean storm intrigues forecasters
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The vapor in this satellite image shows the tropical disturbance in the Caribbean Sea and South Florida on Thursday.
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By Melissa Sugarman
CNN
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Forecasters Thursday were eyeing the beginnings of what could become an unusual out-of-season tropical storm, with a wide area of low pressure accompanied by showers and thunderstorms forming in the northwest Caribbean.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1 and lasts until November 30. But satellite and surface data suggest the system between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, which was growing more organized, could gain strength during the Memorial Day weekend and possibly become a tropical storm, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
Computer models indicated the system would turn more north-northwest over the weekend.
"The biggest problem with this storm right now is it's in a very weak area for movement but it's in a favorable area for development, so we're not really sure just yet which way it wants to go," said CNN International Meteorologist Ken Wood.
NOAA's Tropical Prediction Center issued a special tropical disturbance statement Thursday afternoon which urged residents of Cuba, South Florida, and the Bahamas to monitor the storm's progress closely.
Eastern Cuba and Jamaica were already getting heavy rainfall Thursday, which was expected to produce flooding overnight and into Friday, forecasters said.
CNN Meteorologist Orelon Sidney said light rain could begin over South Florida by Saturday, with heavy rain or storms continuing over Cuba and beginning to spread into the Bahamas.
The official hurricane season marks the most active period for tropical systems to form in the Atlantic or Caribbean, and though out-of-season storms are unusual, they are not impossible, said Wood.
"We don't normally in this time of year have hurricanes or any type of tropical formation form in the Caribbean," he said.
In the past week, the Caribbean has had very little cloud cover, allowing the waters to warm -- a major ingredient for tropical storms, Wood said.
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