A tropical wave midway between Africa and the Lesser Antilles (labeled "invest 94L" by NHC this morning) has become a little better organized this morning, and does have the potential to develop into a tropical depression later this week. Wind shear is a favorable 5-10 knots over 94L, and shear should not be a problem for it over the next few days. The system is not well-organized, with a sloppy, elongated circulation, as seen on last night's QuikSCAT pass. This morning's QuikSCAT pass missed the storm. The system does have a major impediment to development--the presence of a large, dusty area of dry air surrounding its north side (Figure 1). Water vapor satellite loops of the region don't show any significant moistening of the region around 94L occurring, and this will have to happen before the system can develop into a tropical depression. If the storm can develop a better-organized circulation, it will be able to pump more moisture into the surrounding atmosphere and help itself out. Current visible satellite loops shows that this is not happening at present--the thunderstorm activity associated with 94L is rather weak.
None of the reliable computer models develop 94L. The system should track through the Lesser Antilles Islands on Friday, bringing gusty winds and heavy rain. I expect that the earliest 94L could become a tropical depression would be Thursday, and it is unlikely the Lesser Antilles would experience anything worse than a 50 mph tropical storm. It is more likely that 94L will still be a tropical disturbance when it passes through the Lesser Antilles.
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