Aug. 14, 2007 – After a quiet early summer, hurricane season started heating up Monday as Tropical Depression 4 formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Ernesto Morales, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said it's far too soon to tell what the story will be for the Virgin Islands. However, he said when the storm gets to the neighborhood Saturday night it will probably be a Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane.
Category 1 hurricanes have winds between 74 and 98 mph. Category 2 hurricane winds run from 96 to 110 mph.
He said its path is uncertain. It could go north, it could go south or it could go right over our heads.
"It's doing the cha cha cha," he said.
Morales said computer models initially had the storm going about 200 miles south of St. Croix, but later models put it way north of St. Thomas. He urged residents to monitor the storm throughout the week.
He said that at the very least, seas will reach about eight feet.
"You'll get big waves," he said.
As of 11 p.m. Monday, the storm was centered at 12 degrees north latitude and 35 degrees west longitude, or about 1,780 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Winds were 35 mph with higher gusts, and the storm was moving to the west at 20 mph.
Tropical Depression 4 could strengthen into Tropical Storm Dean Tuesday, the hurricane center said.
No one could be reached at the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency for comment.
Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30, with the peak coming around mid-September.
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