The U.S. National Hurricane Center has identified early signs of a tropical storm in the Atlantic

With favourable wind and very warm ocean waters ahead of it the storm is forecast to continue to gain strength this week.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center has identified a tropical depression in the south-central Atlantic.

A tropical depression is the initial stage of what becomes a tropical storm or hurricane.

This stage is characterized as a cluster of thunderstorms that is starting to show signs of rotating around an area of low pressure at its centre.

Once that rotation fully organizes and the wind speed near the centre reaches at least 63 kilometres per hour, it will be declared a tropical storm and will be given a name.

This tropical depression, which has been categorized as tropical depression three, is currently in a favourable location to become stronger as it moves westward.

The ocean waters of the tropical Atlantic are currently much warmer than average for this time of the year, so the storm has plenty of “fuel” available.

The storm may approach the Lesser Antilles as a hurricane late this week.The forecast shows that the system is expected to become a tropical storm by Monday night. When that happens, it will be named Tropical Storm Bret.

Bret will be the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season following the short lived Tropical Storm Arlene that dissipated in the Gulf of Mexico in early June.

The extended forecast for the storm has it gaining hurricane strength as it approaches the Lesser Antilles Thursday into Friday. The Lesser Antilles is the group of islands that border the Caribbean Sea on its eastern side. The island group includes Barbados, Grenada, and Saint Lucia among others.Tropical Depression Three on satellite imagery courtesy of NASA as it continues to strengthen over the south-central AtlanticWhile it’s too early to know the magnitude of impact of this, the National Hurricane Center is advising that the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Island should monitor the forecast.

Those areas are also advised to have a hurricane plan in place.