Tropical Wave In Atlantic Could Develop Into Hurricane: NHC

FLORIDA — The National Hurricane Center is tracking a tropical wave in the Atlantic Ocean that has an increased chance of developing into a tropical storm or hurricane in the coming days.

On Friday, National Hurricane Center forecasters said a small area of low pressure known as Invest 95L was located several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. The system was producing "an area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms over the central tropical Atlantic."

According to forecasters, the system will likely develop into a tropical depression over the next several days as it moves west across the Atlantic.

The system now has a 20 percent chance of developing over the next two days — up from 10 percent Thursday — and a 40 percent chance of growing in the next week, forecasters said.

According to WFLA meteorologist Leigh Spann, the system could become a hurricane as it gets closer to the Caribbean Islands.

"The tropical wave is heading west through the Atlantic right now," Spann said. "In the next seven days, it will strengthen and get more organized."

If Invest 95L develops into a tropical storm, it will be named Emily.