First tropical storm of 2024 season is on the verge of forming

A disturbance with maximum sustained winds of 60 kilometers per hour is advancing north and could become tomorrow the first tropical storm of the current hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center (CNH) warned today.

Located at a latitude of 21.3 degrees north, longitude 93.0 west, the system could turn gradually to the west-northwest, and on Wednesday the system is likely to approach the western Gulf of Mexico, the institution said.

During the next 36 hours, it will increase in strength, and tropical storm winds could extend outward as far as 465 kilometers northeast of the center. The estimated minimum central pressure is 999 mb (29.50 inches), it said in its most recent report. If it becomes a tropical storm, it should carry the name Alberto in the list provided by the World Meteorological Organization, the same one used in the 2018 season.

Specialists foresee that this cyclonic cycle in the Atlantic and the Caribbean, which extends until November 30, will be very active.