SAN JUAN — The first tropical wave of the year is approaching the Virgin Islands this morning.
Between this afternoon-evening and Monday, The wave is expected to cause an increase in rain this afternoon and tomorrow.
The resulting thunderstorm activity associated with this disturbance could last until Tuesday.
The wave has no potential for cyclonic development, at the moment.
“What the heck is a tropical wave?” Forecaster Brian Shields explained. “Those are the disturbances that come off the coast of Africa as we go into the hurricane season. We get a lot of these — 55 to 65 all the way to November.”
The National Hurricane Center added this tropical wave on its surface analysis map for 2024 on Wednesday.
A storm starts first as a tropical disturbance. Then, with cyclonic circulation and faster wind speeds, it becomes a tropical depression. If the wind keeps getting faster it becomes a tropical storm and then a hurricane if winds are more than 74 miles per hour (119 kph).