Florida – Tropical Depression 12 formed Tuesday in the eastern tropical Atlantic just off the African coast.
The newly formed storm has a well-defined circulation and convection in addition to 35 mph sustained winds.
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The initial forecast issued by the National Hurricane Center expects this system to move rapidly west and intensify reaching tropical storm status as early as Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. When this happens it will carry the name Larry.
By early Friday environmental conditions will continue to be conducive for further strengthening given sufficient moisture, light shear and warm sea surface temperatures. This will fuel the storm to a Category 1 hurricane. From there it is expected to continue to strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane as it makes a slight turn toward slightly cooler water and into a drier air mass. This setup is expected to slow the development some with long-range models keeping track over the central Atlantic.
The peak of hurricane season is Sept. 10.