MIAMI – The ninth named storm of the busy Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Irene (search), formed Sunday but posed no immediate threat to land, forecasters said.
Farther north in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Harvey weakened with top sustained winds of 50 mph, down from 60 mph on Saturday. Harvey was about 670 miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland, and moving northeast near 12 mph.
At 5 p.m. EDT, Irene was about 1,100 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and was moving to the west-northwest near 10 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The system had sustained winds of 40 mph, just above the 39 mph threshold for a tropical storm. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its sustained winds reach 74 mph.
The hurricane center said Irene was poorly organized and little strengthening was forecast during the next day. The center's five-day projection indicates the storm will make a turn to the north, bringing it east of Bermuda.
Irene was the earliest ninth named storm on record for the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.
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