The National Hurricane Center (NHC) says it will begin issuing advisories for Tropical Depression 3, beginning at 10:00 am Eastern Standard Time (EST).

The newest system officially formed today (June 19) in the central tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

UPDATES:

10:10 am (Jamaica Time): Interests in the Eastern Caribbean, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola should remain alert as projections from the NHC suggest that TD 3 could continue to strengthen throughout this week, reaching hurricane intensity as early as Wednesday night.

As at 11:00 am Atlantic Standard Time (AST) the centre of Tropical Depression Three was located near latitude 11.0 North, longitude 40.3 West—or roughly 2,295 kilometres east of the southern Windward Islands.

The depression continues to barrel the west near 33 kilometres/hour, a motion which the NHC expects to system will maintain for the next several days on its approach to the Lesser Antilles late this week.

Maximum sustained winds are near 55 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts.

10:06 am (Jamaica Time): For its part, the Jamaica Meteorological Service has advised via its Twitter page that “TD#3 is not being considered a threat” to the island at this time.