Tropical wave near Dominican Republic still bears watching for next 2 days

Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 6:42 PM     Updated: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 6:54 PM

The Times-Picayune

NOAA image

The tropical weather outlook from the National Hurricane Center in Miami for July 20, 7 p.m.:

For the North Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico:

A vigorous tropical wave located near the eastern Dominican Republic is producing a large area of showers and thunderstorms extending from the northern Leeward islands west to Hispaniola.

Surface observations indicate that a closed circulation has not yet formed.

However, environmental conditions are expected to be favorable for tropical cyclone formation as the system moves west-northwest at about 10 mh during the next day or so.

There is a 60 percent chance of this system becoming a tropical depression or a tropical storm in the next 48 hours.

Regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds will likely affect the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, eastern Cuba, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas during the next couple of days.

Source: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2010/07/tropical_wave_near_dominican_r.html

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