DATE: Thursday, September 4, 1997           TAG: 9709040425

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   42 lines

TROPICS BEGIN TO HOP, SPAWNING ERIKA END OF THE QUIET SPELL? FORECASTERS ARE WATCHING THIS TROPICAL STORM AND OTHER TROUBLE SPOTS.

Making up for lost time, the tropics are roaring to life.

Tropical Storm Erika formed on Wednesday afternoon; another storm may be developing; and several other systems are being tracked.

It's a dramatic change from August, when not a single tropical depression, storm or hurricane formed in the Atlantic - the first time that has happened in 36 years.

At 5 p.m., the center of Erika was located about 800 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, moving west-northwest near 18 mph. That motion was expected to continue through today.

Maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph with higher gusts in squalls. Tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 85 miles from the center.

``Conditions favor continued strengthening during the next 24 hours,'' said Richard Pasch, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

``This is the first tropical storm that has developed in the deep tropics this year,'' Pasch noted. That is the traditional breeding ground for the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes, owing to ample warm water and, generally, plenty of time for strengthening.

The forecast track through Saturday places Erika just north of the Leeward Islands, but such long-range forecasts often have a significant margin of error.

``There are some hints that a more northwestward track may be beginning,'' Pasch said, but the storm was still not well-enough defined to make predictions with certainty.

Also being tracked by the Hurricane Center on Wednesday were:

An area of low pressure located over the extreme southwestern Gulf of Mexico continued to show signs of organization Wednesday and, if it remains over water, a tropical depression could form today.

An area of storms off the Georgia coast changed little Wednesday and, with the rapid approach of a cold front, it was not expected to intensify.

A tropical wave spreading westward over the eastern Caribbean was unlikely to intensify.

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