Tropical Depression Could Be On Horizon

The National Hurricane Center is keeping a watchful eye on a tropical wave in the distant Atlantic, some 1,250 miles east of the Windward Islands.

"Conditions appear favorable for development and this system could still become a tropical depression within a day or two," the center reported today. The Atlantic storm season has been extraordinary, with two Category 5 hurricanes making landfall in Central America within days of one another -- the first time that has ever been recorded. There have so far been seven named storms.

The traditional peak of the hurricane season is right around now, and if predictions hold there will be several more named storms -- including major hurricanes -- before the storm season ends. Further, the prognosis received a boost Monday when the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration noted the formation of a La Nina pattern in the Pacific Ocean. That cooling pattern tends to coincide with the formation of Atlantic hurricanes.

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