MIAMI – Tropical Storm Danielle formed Thursday in the Atlantic and is expected to become the first hurricane of an unusually quiet storm season.
But the storm is not currently a threat to any land.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (65 kph). Additional strengthening is forecast and the storm is expected to become a hurricane in two days or so, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The storm is centered about 960 miles (1,545 kilometers) west of the Azores and is moving east near 2 mph (4 kph). The hurricane center said the storm is expected to meander in the Atlantic over the next few days.
The storm’s formation well in the northern Atlantic is unusual as storms typically don’t form that far north this time of year.
The tropical storm comes amid what had been a calm hurricane season. It is the first time since 1941 that the Atlantic has gone from July 3 to the end of August with no named storm, Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach had told The Associated Press earlier.