A tropical depression form in the Caribbean in the coming days
HAVANA, Nov. 14. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported this Monday that there is a 70 percent chance that a low-pressure systemlocated in the southwest of the Caribbean Sea to become a tropical depression in a period of less than seven days.
“A broad area of low pressure is expected to form over the southwestern Caribbean Sea in a few days. This may develop gradually thereafter, and a tropical depression could form by the end of this week,” said a bulletin from the NHC published this Monday.
The National Hurricane Center warns that Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic should especially monitor the evolution of the phenomenon once the system begins to move northeast through portions of the western and central Caribbean Sea.
“Regardless of development, this system has the potential to produce heavy rainfall in parts of the Caribbean coast of Central America and the Greater Antilles towards the latter portion of this week,” the bulletin concluded.
Although at the moment the NHC did not mention Cuba as an area of potential danger, the eastern provinces are included in the low-pressure area referred to in the bulletin.
In recent weeks the National Hurricane Center warned on several occasions about the probability of a tropical depression forming in waters south of Cuba.
The current Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and ends on November 30.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast between 14 and 21 named storms for the current season, of which between 6 and 11 would become hurricanes. Of them, between 2 and 5 would be of great intensity (category 3 to 5).
So far, only Hurricane Idalia has affected Cuba. At the end of August, Idalia hit the western region of the country with strong winds and intense rains that caused river flooding and coastal flooding in the provinces of Pinar del Río and Artemisa. Several landslides were reported in Havana.
Idalia made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 hurricane, leaving flooding and destruction in its wake. It also caused significant damage in the Carolinas.
