Meteorologist Alexandra Cranford has a tropical forecast on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Tropical Storm Gaston will remain over the open central Atlantic. It may make a loop west of the Azores before weakening this weekend. There are two other areas in the deep Atlantic that could develop some this week, but they are not threats right now. The one we're closely watching is a tropical wave called Invest 98-L which is in the Atlantic near South America. It will approach the Caribbean in the next day or two and will likely struggle as it battles wind shear from the north. This shear is mainly due to outflow from powerful Hurricane Fiona to its north. By this weekend the system will be in the central Caribbean and in a more conducive environment for development. By early next week the system will start to feel the tug of a trough over the United States. This is what will pull the system north toward the Gulf. The timing of this trough and strength of the system is very important and will determine where Invest 98 would track in the Gulf, should the system reach the Gulf.