The Tropical Atlantic has had no shortage of tropical storms in recent days, but they have been weak so far. That may change with a tropical wave, called "Invest 98L" in a few days.
Tropical Storms Peter and Rose both weakened to tropical depressions. Peter is located about 215 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico as of early Wednesday morning. It is forecast to turn toward the north then northeast through Friday and dissipate this weekend well south o of Bermuda. Rose is also expected to turn toward the north and northeast, and dissipate between the Azores and Cape Verde Islands late this weekend.
The strong tropical wave, known as "Invest 98L", is expected to become a tropical depression or Tropical Storm Sam later Wednesday or Thursday. It is forecast to move west to west-northwestward across the deep tropics and strengthen over the upcoming weekend. It remains unclear whether 98L will affect the Caribbean or turn northwestward and bypass the Lesser Antilles to the north. If it does affect the Caribbean, it would likely happen early next week. Most of the global models forecast the storm to strengthen and achieve hurricane strength by then.
Confidence is quite low in its future path; there is at least a 1000 mile difference between the various global models. This is often a sign the atmosphere is in a chaotic, or highly unpredictable state, later this weekend and early next week. For that reason, it is not possible to be confident that 98L will turn out to sea like Tropical Storms Peter and Rose, and Hurricane Larry before it.
A separate area of low pressure is located a few hundred miles southeast of New Foundland. This low is the remnant of what was once Tropical Storm Odette which formed Friday afternoon east of North Carolina. The low could reacquire tropical or subtropical characteristics this week, but will eventually turn out to sea by the weekend.
