We have TD 9…excerpt NHC discussion 5 am
The current motion right now is estimated to be off to the
west-northwest at 290/12 kt. In the short-term, the depression is
forecast to bend back more westward as a narrow east-to-west
oriented mid-level ridge builds in behind the weakness left behind
from Fiona. The current eastward displaced convection may also tug
the broad center in that direction as well. However, after 48 hours,
this ridge will start to decay as a longwave deep-layer trough over
the eastern United States begins to amplify southward. This synoptic
evolution should then allow the cyclone to begin gaining latitude,
though the exact timing at which this occurs could be somewhat
related to the vertical depth of the cyclone and how it interacts
with a weak upper-level trough expected to be over the far western
Caribbean in the day 3-4 time-frame. The model guidance early on is
in fairly good agreement, but larger across-track spread begins to
take shape by 48 hours, with the GFS and its ensemble mean located
further south and west, and with the ECMWF and its ensemble mean
located further north and east. The initial track forecast has
decided to split the difference between these two model suites, and
lies fairly close to the consensus aids TVCN and HCCA. There is
still a healthy amount of uncertainty in the track forecast at the
day 4-5 timeframe.