Tropical update: Two hurricane and more waves

The tropics continue to brew tropical waves and although Hurricane Danielle does not represent a threat to land, Hurricane Earl will pass close to Bermuda as a major hurricane.

There are two tropical waves closer to Africa than to the Americas. One has a medium chance to develop within the next five days and it is already west of the Cabo Verde Islands. This tropical wave will remain as a fish storm and not threaten land.

Another tropical wave is about to emerge from Africa and is in a lower latitude. A lower latitude usually means that it has the chance to at least make it to threaten the Caribbean. The good news is that it is so far out, a few thousand miles, that we have plenty of time to watch it.

Hurricane Danielle is likely to become a tropical storm on Thursday early morning. It is forecast for it to make a loop and then, over the weekend head toward the Portugal- Spain border. There are too many variants that know for sure if this system will make it there for sure early next week. But if it holds some of its strength and becomes a subtropical system its wind field will greatly expand and Northern Portugal and northwestern Spain could be dealing with power outages. We will keep you posted.

Earl is likely to become the first major hurricane of the season, likely reaching category 4 as it moves just southeast of Bermuda. The small island is under a tropical storm warning as the strongest winds of this system will be well to the east of the center and away from the island, but they will still deal with at least 50 mph winds or higher. Winds are expected to pick up later on Wednesday and Thursday as Earl’s wind field expands as the system moves north.

Earl will generate large swells and bring life-threatening rip currents. Earl is forecast to move over cooler waters and a less conducive environment this weekend, gradually losing strength.

We will keep you updated with everything that happens in the tropics this week and beyond. Remember this is a time to get ready and have a plan in place in case a storm threatens your area.