Tropical Storm Erin Moves East, Headed Toward Warmer Waters

By Myles Collier, Christian Post Contributor Friday, August 16, 2013

Tropical Storm Erin is moving slowly westward over the eastern Atlantic after forming off the West African cost earlier this week. The storm's maximum sustained winds that were recorded early Friday are near 40 mph with forecasters predicting the storm to strengthen slowly over the next couple of days.

Erin is centered about 430 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands and is moving west-northwest around 16 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center is expecting the storm to stay on its current path with a possible gradual decrease in forward speed over the next few days.

Over the weekend water temperatures in the storms expected path are expected to stay slightly above average with strong opposing winds that usually weaken Atlantic storms being less strong than in previous weeks.

AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Dan Kottlowski noted Tuesday morning that the broad area of low pressure has not yet shown signs of strengthening.

"This suggests there is no sign that a low-level feature is forming yet," Kottlowski said, and a low-level feature is necessary for a storm to strengthen.

There will only be a day or two in which this lower-level feature could form before the system moves inland. Once over land the warm, tropical water needed to strengthen the storm will not be available.

This has been a relatively active season in the Eastern Pacific with eight named storms so far this season. On average, there are only three Eastern Pacific hurricanes by the first week of August, with hurricane season running until Nov. 1.