Aug. 31, 2007 — Tropical Depression Six formed Friday afternoon east of the Windward Islands.
Rohan Abtahi, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said Friday the projected path will take it about 350 miles south of St. Croix as Tropical Storm Felix late Saturday night.
"There's a chance you could get some moisture from the outer rain bands, but it's going to be too far away to provide us with heavy bands," Abtahi said.
Forecasters have watched a tropical low advance across the Atlantic Ocean all week. A hurricane hunter plane found a closed circulation, indicating a tropical depression, when it flew into the storm Friday.
Tropical Depression Six is expected to grow into Tropical Storm Felix by early Saturday, and the storm could become a hurricane by Tuesday night.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, Tropical Depression Six was centered at 11.8 degrees north latitude and 58.6 degrees west longitude, or about 180 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands. Tropical storm warnings are up for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago and Grenada. Tropical storm watches are posted for Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and the northern coast of Venezuela.
The National Hurricane Center's 5 p.m. advisory indicated tropical storm conditions may hit St. Lucia Friday night. It did not indicate that a tropical storm warning had been posted.
Winds are at 35 mph with the barometric pressure standing at 1008 millibars, or 29.77 inches. It's moving to the west at 16 mph.
Abtahi reminded residents that the mid-September peak of hurricane season is approaching and they should remain on guard.
"We still have three months yet to go, with the heaviest activity yet to come," he said. The climatological peak for this area is the third week in September, he said.
Hurricane season runs June 1 through Nov. 30.
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