Tropical Depression #20 has formed in the open waters of the eastern Atlantic; while it is expected to become a tropical storm and hurricane over time, it is not expected to impact any land at this time.
As of the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), the new depression is located at 8.3 N 24.6 W which puts it about 535 miles south of the Cabo Verde Islands. Maximum sustained winds are 35 mph while the minimum central pressure is at 1007 mb or 29.74″.
The depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 14 mph and the NHC says this motion is expected to continue during the next couple of days, followed by a turn to the northwest. As it moves along, the NHC expects for steady strengthening and the depression is expected to become a tropical storm tonight and a hurricane in a couple of days.
With a busy hurricane season underway, the National Hurricane Center may exhaust its list of storm names. With this storm projected by the NHC to become a tropical storm and hurricane, it will likely be given the name “Victor.” After Victor, only Wanda remains on the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season tropical cyclone name list. Unlike in previous years where the NHC would switch over to letters of the Greek alphabet, this year they would pull from an extra list of names in alphabetical order. A decision was made earlier this year to change the naming process when the first batch of names is used up. Should a storm beyond Wanda require a name, the next storm name to be used would be Adria.
