FIRST ALERT: 2019 Atlantic Hurricane season may get early kick-start with development near the Bahamas, NWS says

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - The National Hurricane Center is monitoring a “trough of low pressure” near the Bahamas that could become a tropical cyclone later this week.

NHC says the weather area is over the northwest Bahamas and may become a tropical cyclone as it moves over the Western Atlantic Ocean.

“Locally heavy rains are possible over portions of the Bahamas and Florida during the next couple of days,” the NHC tweeted.

A trough of low pressure over the NW Bahamas has a low chance of becoming a tropical cyclone once it moves over the western Atlantic later this week. Locally heavy rains are possible over portions of the Bahamas and Florida during the next couple of days https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/zamD0rsXGA
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) May 1, 2019

Earlier this year, researchers at Colorado State University forecasted a “slightly below normal Atlantic hurricane season,” with five hurricanes - two being major hurricanes potentially measured as Category 3 or higher storms.

The researchers said that 2018 saw a 20 percent above average number with eight hurricans with two creating the most damage - Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael. Each storm caused an estimated $25 billion in damages, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.