TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND A HURRICANE WATCH ARE IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS.
Tropical Depression 24 continues to swirl in the northwestern Caribbean. As of 2:00 a.m. EDT Monday, the center of Tropical Depression 24 was located near 17.4 north and 79.6 west, or about 170 miles southeast of Grand Cayman. Currently, the depression is drifting to the west-southwest at 2 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 35 mph, and the estimated minimum central pressure is 1000 millibars or 29.53 inches.
Upper level shear is favorable for development over the northwestern Caribbean and it will stay that way over the next several days. There is some dry air in the mid levels of the atmosphere that has been sinking south toward the depression and it may have limited strengthening during the day Sunday. It may also be causing the current convection to be the favoring the south side of the center of circulation. This should change early next week as the atmosphere slowly moistens up to the the north of the depression and we think that it should become a tropical storm on Monday, and when it does, it will be named Wilma. This would be the 21st named storm of the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season, tying the all-time record for the most number of tropical storms set in 1933. Favorable upper level shear and warm waters may bring a period of rapid intensification at some point to this system and it could become a hurricane by Tuesday, perhaps even a major hurricane later this week. [Read more - AccuWeather]
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