Caribbean System Has 70% Chance of Becoming Tropical, NHC Says

An area of low pressure near San Andres Island east of Nicaragua has a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical system in the next two days, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

“There is a likelihood that a tropical depression will form during the weekend,” the center said in an advisory at 8 p.m. East Coast time.

Sixteen named storms have formed so far this season in the Atlantic, compared with an average of 11, according to the center. A storm gets a name when it becomes organized and top winds reach at least 39 miles per hour.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

The system is expected to start drifting to the north by the day after tomorrow, the center said.

The water in the area is 84 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (29 to 30 Celsius), warm enough to help a storm develop, Jeff Masters, co-founder of Weather Underground Inc., said on his blog. The system’s winds are about 25 to 30 mph, he wrote.

The hurricane center is also tracking a second system off the coast of Venezuela that has a 20 percent chance of becoming a storm in the next 48 hours, according to the center.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net