Tropical Storm Erika, which formed on the heels of Hurricane Danny on Monday, is expected to steadily grow as it bears down on the Caribbean and could become a hurricane in four days, National Hurricane Center forecasters said Tuesday.
The storm, located about 640 miles east of the Leeward Islands at 2 p.m. Tuesday, was moving northwest at about 20 mph with sustained winds of 45 mph. Tropical storm force winds extended 80 miles. As Erika moves over warm waters during the next two days, forecasters expect the storm to slow down and steadily intensify. Erika should arrive in the Leeward Islands by Wednesday night or early Thursday, forecasters said.
But as the storm heads northwest, forecast models begin to differ on Erika’s future.
Forecasters say Erika could become a hurricane by Saturday. But the same conditions that helped weaken Danny after it became a hurricane last week may slow down Erika. Predicting intensity in the next three to five days is less certain than usual, forecasters said, because tracking models are so far split. While one group shows a stronger storm moving to the northwest after about 48 hours, others show a weaker system heading more to the west.
