I've looked back at the NHC discussion and it says "Satellite images show a large area of deep convection associated with Eta, but there is not much organization to the thunderstorm activity. An ASCAT-A pass from several hours ago showed that the circulation of Eta has become a little better defined, and the center was located a fair distance to the west-southwest of what was previously analyzed. The pass also showed that Eta has not strengthened to a tropical storm yet, with the maximum winds in the 25-30 kt range."
Given it said 'not much organisation' and then 'a little better organised' I interpreted that as meaning there wasn't a coherent system at that point. That was the point I was making.
Originally Posted by: Gandalf The White