Meteorologists at the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) are tracking a large weather disturbance in the Caribbean—with the potential to become a cyclone in the next couple of days.

According to the NHC, in an 8:00 am Eastern Standard Time (EST) advisory on Thursday (October 29), the system, which is moving from the tropical Atlantic across the Lesser Antilles and into the eastern Caribbean Sea, is
associated with two tropical waves.

The hurricane watchdog has placed strengthening probability at 60 per cent in the next five days, as the massive system crawls along the southeast Caribbean Sea.

In its observations, the NHC further warned that upper-level winds may be conducive for the disturbance’s development over the next couple of days—becoming a tropical depression as early as this weekend or at the start of next week.

The disorganised system currently moves westward across the central and western Caribbean Sea.

The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service, in its weekend outlook, anticipates sporadic but intense periods of rainfall over the next three days.

“A large area of convergence is approaching the region and will most likely result in periods of showers and thunderstorms over the weekend and into the new week. The situation will be dynamic, however, Friday/Saturday and Monday looks like the most significant days in terms of rainfall and thunderstorm activity,” the agency explained.

Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Zeta barrels through the southwest United States, after making landfall at category two hurricane strength on Wednesday. It is the eleventh hurricane to hit the US in a single year; the most-ever since 1916.

As at 10:00 am EST, Tropical Storm Zeta was located 155 kilomtres northest of Asheville, North Carolina.

The system has maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts and is moving northeast at 78 kilometres/hour.

Zeta, which is the 28th tropical depression of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, drenched sections of Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands with torrential rains last weekend.

The storm, which later became a hurricane on Tuesday, was responsible for the death of two Jamaicans and upwards of JM$2 billion in infrastructural damage, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness.