The second tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season formed over the far eastern Atlantic Ocean early Tuesday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Since this morning, most of the weather models now forecast the storm would move in a more northwesterly track, potentially toward the Bahamas, the U.S. east coast, and possibly the Gulf of Mexico. Energy traders noted it was too soon to say whether or where the system might hit land. Earlier, most models showed the storm would likely turn north-northeast by the end of the week and remain in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The NHC said the center of the depression was about 565 kilometers west of the Cape Verde Islands, off the west coast of Africa. It was moving westward over the ocean at almost 21 kilometers per hour (kph) with maximum sustained winds near 48 kph. The depression will likely strengthen within 24 hours into the first tropical storm of the Atlantic season, with winds of between 63 and 117 kph, the NHC said. If the system reaches tropical-storm strength, it would be named Ana. However, after becoming a named storm, the NHC does not expect Ana to strengthen into a hurricane over the next five days. By this time last year, there already were five named storms in the Atlantic season. This year's storm count is expected to be lower because of the periodic El Nino weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, which reduces Atlantic storm activity.
