In the second week of September, a strong tropical wave began to emerge off the coast of Africa. It was well-organized from the start, and on September 11, even before it emerged off the coast, the National Hurricane Center predicted that it could quickly develop into a tropical depression. That is indeed what happened, and it became Tropical Depression Eight on the morning of September 12. The enormous size of the depression made it fairly slow to develop, combined with some easterly wind shear in the eastern Atlantic and influence of the Saharan Air Layer to the north as it tracked south of the Cape Verde islands. Convection was also slow to build in, with little banding at first. The initial strengthening was delayed as a result. However, on September 13, the organization improved as banding became better defined, and that evening, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Helene.