Tropical Storm Bret takes aim at Caribbean. Another storm could form right behind it
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Tropical Storm Bret was beginning to weaken Thursday afternoon, with an estimated day or two left in its life span before it is expected to fizzle out in the open Caribbean sea.
But right behind it is a new tropical depression, the fourth of the season. It’s expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Cindy in the next few days, but the projected course keeps it away from most land for now.
As of the 8 p.m. Thursday update, the National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Bret’s maximum sustained winds held at 65 mph. It was headed toward the Leeward Islands at 16 miles per hour, and was about 60 miles west-northwest of Barbados and 55 miles southeast of St. Lucia.
St. Lucia was under a hurricane watch, in case Bret strengthens that last little bit, while other nearby islands were under tropical storm watches and warnings. Bret is expected to bring a few inches of rain, some high winds and rough surf to the Windward and Leeward Islands on Thursday and Friday.
From there, the hurricane center expected Bret to head into open waters of the Caribbean and meet its end in the dry air and high, storm-shredding wind shear. The system was projected to be completely dissolved by Sunday.
In line behind Bret on Thursday morning was tropical depression four, which is expected to power up into Tropical Storm Cindy as soon as Thursday night. The system is expected to slowly strengthen over the next three days before running into strong shear and cooler waters that would pump the brakes.
The hurricane center’s latest forecast puts Cindy on a track that steers clear of inhabited islands in the Caribbean, and drops the storm right into unfriendly conditions that could, by Tuesday, dissolve the storm back into a depression.
As of the 5 p.m. update, the depression was holding steady with maximum sustained winds at 35 mph.
Miami Herald reporter Devoun Cetoute contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 22, 2023 at 5:27 AM.
