Millions of people living along the Gulf Coast are being urged to make sure preparations are in place as the next tropical threat to the U.S. brews in the Caribbean, and there are increasing signs that the ingredients needed for a tropical storm or hurricane to form are coming together.
A number of computer forecast models depict a strong tropical storm or hurricane in the eastern Gulf of Mexico by the end of this week, but there still remains a lot of uncertainty in the forecast, with several potential outcomes.
The system expected to threaten the Gulf Coast has now been dubbed Invest 97L, which is simply a naming convention that allows the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to run specialized computer models to help forecasters obtain additional information on tropical disturbances being monitored for development.
The development odds for Invest 97L have been steadily increasing, and the NHC says there is a high chance of tropical development from the northwestern Caribbean Sea to the southern and eastern Gulf of Mexico over the next seven days.