Tropical disturbance makes its way toward Gulf

From the National Weather Service:

At 1000 AM, the disturbance was centered near latitude 16.3 North, longitude 63.8 West. The system is moving toward the west-northwest near 18 mph and this general motion is expected to continue during the next few days. On the forecast track, the disturbance is expected to pass near or over the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico later today and tonight, be near or over Hispaniola on Wednesday, and be near the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands Thursday.

Reports from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph with higher gusts. However, the aircraft did not find a well-defined closed circulation. Gradual strengthening is forecast during the next day or so and the disturbance is expected to become a tropical storm later today or tonight. Some weakening is likely while the system interacts with Hispaniola on Wednesday. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1012 mb (29.89 inches).