Riviera Maya, Q.R. — A new disturbance is being monitored by the National Hurricane Center (NOAA) that developed Thursday. The system is currently in the western Caribbean Sea and is expected to continue developing into next week.
The area of low pressure has shown signs of further development in the 24 hours of NOAA monitoring. The new disturbance has appeared near the same area where Disturbance 3, which became Helene, formed the week before.
Initially, Disturbance 3 was forecast to cross over the Yucatan Peninsula on September 22 and enter the western Gulf of Mexico. A wet weather advisory was issued by local authorities September 21 regarding the heavy rain that was to accompany the system as it passed over Quintana Roo, however, that never happened.
Within 24 hours of the weather warning, Disturbance 3 took on a new northern trajectory, becoming quickly organized in the tropical Caribbean Sea and eventually passing the coast of Quintana Roo instead.
Disturbance 3 became Helene, passing the northern tip of Quintana Roo on September 25 within 70 kilometers (43 miles), soaking the region and felling trees as it passed through the Yucatan Channel.
According to the NOAA, this new system in the Caribbean Sea, which is still an area of low pressure, is expected to further form and develop into the middle of next week.
“An area of low pressure could form over the western Caribbean Sea by the middle of next week. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for slow development thereafter, while the system moves generally northwestward, potentially entering the Gulf of Mexico by the end of next week.”
