New Tropical Storm forms in the Atlantic
Tropical storm Melissa, which has formed in the far eastern Atlantic has become the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
The centre of the storm is around 260 miles (418 km) southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. Melissa is currently slowly moving westwards at around 4 mph and is expected to veer towards a more northwesterly direction. During the early hours of this morning, Saturday 29 September, Melissa had maximum sustained wind speeds of near 40 mph (64 km/h). The National Hurricane Center has forecast the storm to intensify during the next 24 hours before weakening back into a depression over the next few days.
Meanwhile, tropical storm Karen over the central Atlantic had weakened but posses the threat of making landfall in Puerto Rico or the East coast of the USA over the next five days. Further updates will appear here.
The National Hurricane Center expects this year’s Atlantic hurricane season to be busier than average. The season starts from the 1st June to the end of November.
