Hurricane Danny to Become Tropical Depression; More Disturbances Coming

It looks like, as predicted by the National Hurricane Center, Danny won't be much of a threat to our neck of the woods after all. However, there are at least two disturbances brewing right behind Danny in the Atlantic.

After reaching category 3 status as a hurricane over the weekend, with sustained winds of 100 mph, Danny's route into Hispaniola is giving it a good enough of a beating to weaken it. As of the 5:00 a.m. Monday advisory, the National Hurricane Center says Danny is very likely going to become a tropical depression by the time it gets into our area by Wednesday, meaning what was once Hurricane Danny will be a big wet sloppy mess, but not much more.

As of Monday morning, Danny is around 60 miles northeast of Dominican and 60 miles southeast of Guadeloupe, with winds of 40 mph and moving at a 9 mph clip. The National Hurricane Center says the storm is expected to pass over the eastern Caribbean islands before being downgraded into a tropical depression later today.

Once it reaches Dominican Republic around Wednesday, Danny will become a tropical wave.

However, there are two more disturbances forming right behind Danny. One disturbance, forming about 800 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands moving at 20 mph, is expected to become a tropical storm within the week, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

For now, the National Hurricane Center's models have the system moving north toward the eastern Caribbean islands by midweek.

Behind that disturbance, is another one, which for now has a 20 percent chance of developing into something worth monitoring.

At the beginning of hurricane season, forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said they expected 2015 to be another slow season thanks in large part to storm-killing El Nino, which wreaks havoc on wind and pressure patterns that ultimately fuel storm formations. El Nino is expected to be even bigger this season, NOAA says, which means slower-than-normal Atlantic waters.

Last season, forecasters predicted nine named storms and three hurricanes. When the 2014 season ended, we had seen only eight named storms form, well below the average of 12 per season. Florida was spared from being hit for the ninth straight season; Wilma was the last hurricane to make landfall in the Sunshine State, back in 2005.