Tropical depression expected to form this weekend

Published 2:06 pm Wednesday, August 29, 2018

After a quiet hurricane season so far, there may be something brewing off coast of Africa, forecasters say.

A low-pressure area is forecast to form between the coast of Africa and the Cabo Verde Islands this week, in association with a tropical wave expected to move off the west coast of Africa late Thursday or early Friday.

The National Hurricane Center said additional development is anticipated, and a tropical depression could form over the weekend while the system moves west-northwestward near the Cabo Verde Islands.

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NC Emergency Management said officials there are monitoring the forecast.

Earlier this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s scaled back its hurricane outlook for the Atlantic basin, saying  oceanic and atmospheric conditions have become “much more inhospitable to hurricane formation and intensification.”