The tropical storm Dolly formed this Thursday in the central Atlantic and is rapidly moving west, while the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has urged residents of the Leeward Islands to stay alert to its development.
In its first advisory on Dolly, issued at 11:00 a.m., the NHC located the center of the system near latitude 13.6 north and longitude 38.7 west, approximately 1,555 miles (2,505 kilometers) east of the Lesser Antilles.
Dolly has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (approximately 65 km/h) and is moving west at about 24 mph (39 km/h). Its estimated minimum central pressure is 1,007 millibars.
Currently, there are no watches or coastal alerts. However, the NHC explicitly stated that the progress of the storm must be monitored in the Lesser Antilles.
The general movement towards the west should continue over the next two days, and according to the forecasted trajectory, Dolly will be nearing the Lesser Antilles over the weekend.
The forecast does not anticipate a significant strengthening. The NHC expects little change in its intensity over the next 48 hours and predicts that Dolly will degenerate into a tropical wave before reaching the Lesser Antilles.
Tropical storm-force winds extend up to about 60 miles (96 kilometers) from the center.
Although the system could lose its organization before reaching the islands, its effects could still be felt in the Caribbean. The NHC warned that heavy rains associated with Dolly would begin to affect the Lesser Antilles between late Saturday and Sunday.
Precipitation could later extend to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola between Sunday and Monday, with the possibility of flash floods, especially in higher elevation areas.
The meteorological agency will issue its next full advisory on Dolly at 5:00 p.m. AST.
The formation of Dolly occurs just hours after the system reached a 90% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone.
The NHC had anticipated that if it continued to organize, it could become a short-lived tropical storm as early as this Thursday.
Related videos:
Filed under: