Tropical storm Guillermo gathers strength in Pacific

The system near Africa is over 3000 miles away with only a 30% chance to develop during the next five days. We are watching the tropics but not anxious at this time.

A tropical storm churning in the Pacific is gathering strength and could turn into a hurricane as soon as Friday.

As of Wednesday afternoon this tropical wave is now known as Invest 94L.

It is still way to early to know if this system will have any impact on the United States.

Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Florida, cautioned that extended forecasts have a high degree of uncertainty.

On July 28, 2015, the RapidScat instrument observed Tropical Depression 8E’s strongest winds on the eastern side of the storm (yellow) while winds were much weaker (blue) on the western side.

This GOES-West infrared image of Guillermo, taken Friday shows bands of thunderstorms spiraling around the northern quadrant and wrapping into the low-level center from the west.

The NHC said the disturbance has a low, 10 percent chance of tropical formation through the next 48 hours. Anytime a cold front stalls over warm water there is a small chance of tropical development. However, it must overcome Saharan dust and wind shear in its path.

Bravender says people should prepare as we head into August, which is the height of Hawaii’s hurricane season.