Tropical Storm Watches Issued for Windward Islands Ahead of Developing Storm

Gainesville, Florida – The first advisory was issued on Potential Tropical Cyclone Five (formally Invest 97L) in the central Atlantic, as it is likely to become the season’s fifth tropical storm as it approaches the Windward Islands Friday. Tropical Storm Watches were issued for the island nations of Barbados, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Martinique and Guadeloupe.

The forecast track brings the future tropical storm into the eastern Caribbean by Saturday, then potentially nearing Cuba by Monday as a strong tropical storm. However, the National Hurricane Center expressed unusual uncertainty in the track and strength of the developing system beyond Saturday due to potential interaction with land and differences in model forecasts.

Original story published Wednesday morning, with the system identified as “97L”…