NASA sees Tropical Depression 9 form east of Lesser Antilles

NOAA's GOES-East Satellite spotted Tropical Depression 9 organizing east of the Lesser Antilles.

At 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 UTC) on Aug. 13 NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Depression 9. The satellite imagery showed the circulation of the low pressure area was becoming better defined and that a cluster of strong convection has formed west of the center.

NOAA manages the GOES series of satellites, and NASA uses the satellite data to create images and animations. The image was created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Tropical Depression Nine (TD9) formed around 11 p.m. EDT on Aug. 17 about 365 miles east of the Barbados and 465 miles (750 km) east of St. Lucia.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a Tropical Storm Warning for Martinique, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Dominica. Tropical storm conditions are expected to first reach the Lesser Antilles within the warning area by early Friday, Aug. 18.

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the disturbance was centered near 13.1 degrees north latitude and 54.1 degrees west longitude. The system was moving toward the west near 17 mph (28 kph) and this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. On the forecast track, the disturbance should move through the Windward Islands and into the eastern Caribbean Sea on Aug. 18. Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts.

The NHC noted that the depression is expected to become a tropical storm before reaching the Windward Islands.

The depression is expected to bring heavy rainfall across portions of the Windward Islands from Martinique southward to Grenada with totals between 2 and 4 inches expected. These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.