Tropics Firing Up As August Arrives

MIAMI (CBS4) - After a quiet stretch in the tropics, the activity is now starting to increase as the calendar turns over to August.

It is possible we may have Tropical Storm Ernesto form sometime during the day today. The CBS4 Storm Team is watching two tropical waves in the Atlantic Basin.

The first wave is located in the Caribbean near Hispanola. This system has little to no chance of forming into an organized tropical system, but will likely bring us increased rain chances by Friday and into the weekend.

The 2nd wave is located 1000 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. This is the wave we are watching for potential development.

At this time the National Hurricane Center says this wave has a high chance of development within the next 48 hours. As of late Wednesday morning, the wave looks healthy on the tropical satellite.

There appears to be a well organized circulation and plenty of thunderstorms. So it is likely pretty close to forming into a depression or a tropical storm. It may do so as early as this afternoon.

The system will continue to move west and is likely to enter the Caribbean, crossing the Lesser Antilles, by Friday and Saturday.

CBS4 and CBSMiami.com will have the latest developments for both waves as they become available.