Latest Hurricane News

What is an Invest?

At a Glance

Invests are usually areas of low pressure that the NHC is interested.
Special computer models are run when a system is tagged as an invest.
These systems can now be warned on by the NHC.

On weather.com and The Weather Channel you may hear us use the term "Invest" (short for Investigation) followed by the numbers 90 through 99 and either the letter "L" for the Atlantic basin systems or "E" for the eastern Pacific systems.

These full labels in the Atlantic would be displayed as Invest 90L, Invest 91L, etc. In the eastern Pacific, you would see Invest 90E, Invest 91E, etc.

This naming convention is used by the National Hurricane Center to identify features they are monitoring for potential future development into a tropical depression or a tropical storm.

(MORE: Hurricane Central)

Invest Models
Once the National Hurricane Center declares an area of interest an Invest, computer models are run on the system to project the future track possibilities, like the ones shown above, as well as the potential future intensity.

According to the National Hurricane Center, by designating a tropical weather system as an "Invest", the collection of specialized data sets and computer model guidance on the area of interest can begin. This collection and processing of data is shown on a number of government and academic websites for analyzing.

That said, the "Invest" assignment does not correspond to how likely a system may develop into a tropical depression or storm.

Once the end of the list is reached with either Invest 99L in the Atlantic or Invest 99E in the eastern Pacific, it starts back over again with Invest 90L or Invest 90E.

In 2017, the National Hurricane Center began to issue tropical storm watches and warnings for invests with the possibility or likelihood of producing winds over 40 mph in a given area within 48 hours even though they may not meet the requirements of being a tropical storm (closed center, robust and consistent thunderstorms). These systems are called potential tropical cyclones.