MIAMI -- Forecasters say it's too soon to tell what Invest 98-L will do and where it will go, once it gets organized later this week.

The National Hurricane Center says upper-level winds are keeping the wave off Venezuela's coast from developing. but those should go away in a couple of days as the system moves west, allowing for it to become a tropical depression.

"There's a lot of hype early out there. It's too early to predict any impact," Larry Kelly of the National Weather Service Miami office told reporters.

Right now the chances of formation are 70 percent over the next 48 hours and 90 percent over the next five days.

Forecasters are also watching a tropical wave off the west coast of Africa. They give it a 60 percent chance of formation over the next 48 hours/ Another low, several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, is given a 30 percent chance of development over five days.

Otherwise, the National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Fiona has top winds of 115 miles per hour. It's at 28.6 N and 70.2 W. Hurricane warnings are posted for Bermuda. Fiona is expected to head for Atlantic Canada after brushing the island and leaving lots of rain behind in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Tropical Storm Gaston is expected to affect the Azores over the next couple of days.

Photo: NHC