Tropical Storm Dorian is Born Near Africa

After commenting on the "quiet start" to the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane season only a few days ago, I can now report that things are warming up off the west coast of North Africa. The first two tropical storms of the Atlantic season were born over in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The third started in the central Atlantic. The fourth is called Dorian, and earlier this morning the National Hurricane Centre announced that the:

FOURTH NAMED STORM OF THE 2013 SEASON FORMS… SATELLITE IMAGERY AND DATA INDICATE THAT THE TROPICAL DEPRESSION IN THE EASTERN TROPICAL ATLANTIC HAS STRENGTHENED THIS MORNING.

AT 1100 AM EDT…1500 UTC…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM DORIAN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 14.3 NORTH…LONGITUDE 29.9 WEST. DORIAN IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 21 MPH…33 KM/H…AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 50 MPH…85 KM/H…WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME SLIGHT STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE TODAY…FOLLOWED BY GRADUAL WEAKENING ON THURSDAY AS DORIAN MOVES OVER COOLER WATER.

TROPICAL-STORM-FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 45 MILES…75 KM FROM THE CENTER. THE ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1002 MB…29.59 INCHES.

Here's Dorian's projected path over the next 5 days:

NHC forecast track for Tropical Storm Dorian at 11:00 EDT on Wednesday July 24, 2013

Currently the NHC advise that:

HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
———————-
NONE.