Miami, FL - The National Hurricane Center declared Tropical Depression Seven at 4 p.m. Wednesday after satellite imagery and Air Force Hurricane Hunters discovered a closed low.
The Hurricane Hunters reached the disturbance during the afternoon and discovered flight-level winds of 41 knots, or about 47 mph, at the top of the system. Tropical disturbance designations are based on the surface winds. When those winds are adjusted down to the surface, the Hurricane Center set the initial winds at 35 mph.
The disturbance is expected to bring large amounts of rain to Puerto Rico. Tropical storm warnings are also in place for the islands.
The system is expected to become a Tropical storm, but most models and steering currents curve the storm north and east back out over the Atlantic, with a chance to brush Bermuda. If TD Seven becomes a tropical storm, it will be Gabrielle.