A tropical depression or potentially Tropical Storm Rina is likely to form in about a day in the central tropical Atlantic not far behind a weakening Tropical Storm Philippe as the latter makes its way toward the eastern Caribbean.

Storm-shredding wind shear and dry air are forecast to weaken Philippe this week as it moves west to west-northwest.

As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, Philippe was located about 685 miles east of the far eastern Caribbean, moving west at 12 mph. Its maximum sustained winds were holding steady early Wednesday at 45 mph.

Even though Philippe is moving over warmer waters, its development will be hindered by wind shear and dry air. As a result, Philippe is forecast to become a remnant low by Saturday.

Meanwhile, the system that could soon become a tropical depression or tropical storm was located about halfway between the Cabo Verde Islands off Africa and the far eastern Caribbean, and had a 90% chance of developing within two to seven days, the hurricane center said as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Its showers and thunderstorms were becoming better organized and it is expected to move west-northwest across the central tropcial Atlantic.

So far this season in the Atlantic, there have been 16 named storms, six of which were hurricanes. Of those, three were major hurricanes, meaning Category 3 or above.

Those were Hurricane Lee, a rare Category 5; Hurricane Franklin, a Category 4; and Hurricane Idalia, which made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend region at Category 3 strength on Aug. 30.

Hurricane season officially runs through Nov. 30.

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