The third tropical depression of the 2023 hurricane season has formed in the Atlantic and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane on Thursday or Friday, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said Monday.
The depression, about 2,295 kilometers east of the southern Windward Islands, has maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour, forecasters explained.
“The depression is forecast to strengthen and move across the Lesser Antilles as a hurricane on Thursday and Friday, bringing a risk of flooding from heavy rain, hurricane-force winds, and dangerous storm surge and surf,” the hurricane center said.
While it was too soon to specify the location and magnitude of where those hazards could occur, the center urged authorities in the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to closely monitor the system and have hurricane plans in place.
If the depression becomes a hurricane, it would be the first of the 2023 season, which runs from June through November.
Colorado State University meteorologists said in April that a slightly below-average 2023 Atlantic hurricane season can be expected due to the El Niño weather phenomenon dampening storm prospects.
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