Hurricane trackers focus on 3 potential systems as Omar fades away

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tropical Depression Omar was hanging on to its strength Saturday but was expected to soon fade into a remnant low. After it dissipates, the tropics will remain a busy place as the National Hurricane Center tracks three systems with odds of development in the Atlantic.

Omar was about 550 miles northeast of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph moving east at 10 mph. Omar is likely to become a remnant low by Sunday morning and dissipate by early Monday, the NHC said. The storm was not believed to make landfall.

Meanwhile, multiple systems in the Atlantic had potential for further development as of Saturday.

First, forecasters are eyeing a trough of low pressure with less organized shower activity, midway between Africa and the Windward Islands, according to the NHC. Forecasters did not expect this system to develop due to potential interaction with a large tropical wave a few hundred miles to its east. This system was given a 10% chance to form in the next five days.

Second, the large wave that may disrupt the first system is over the eastern tropical Atlantic and continues to produce showers and thunderstorms. Gradual development is expected as the system could become a tropical depression or tropical storm this weekend or early next week as it moves west-northwest. The NHC gave it a 50% chance to form in the next two days and 90% chance in the next five days.

And third, the NHC is monitoring another tropical wave hanging over Africa, which should push out over sea sometime over the weekend. The NHC said this system likely will form into a tropical depression by the middle of next week, with a 70% chance of formation in the next five days.

The NHC has stopped tracking what was once Tropical Storm Nana, which was headed for Belize.

The remaining names for the 2020 season are Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.

If the total amount of 2020 storms exceeds the designated name list, which it is expected to, hurricane specialists will begin using letters from the Greek alphabet to name storms — a tactic meteorologists have had to use only once before, in 2005, which had a total of 28 named storms.