Tropical Storm Dolly forms in the Atlantic Ocean

Tropical Storm Dolly was moving quickly toward the Leeward Islands Friday morning as a potential heavy rainmaker after forming over the central Atlantic Ocean the day before, the National Hurricane Center said. It’s the fourth named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. 

Dolly was more than 1,100 miles east of the Leewards and moving west at 24 mph with maximum sustained winds of 24 mph, the Miami-based center said, adding that Dolly — or its remnants — might weaken into a tropical wave before getting there.

Nonetheless, “Heavy rain from Dolly could affect the Leeward Islands late Saturday into Sunday, with rainfall moving into the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola Sunday and Monday,” the center said. “This heavy rain may produce flash flooding within areas of higher terrain of the Leeward Islands.”

The current Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through the end of November, has been quieter than usual, which meteorologists had predicted due to the strengthening El Niño in the Pacific.

Dolly formed, coincidentally, just days after the death of country music legend Dolly Parton at 80 years old.

The list of names for storms is prepared six years in advance of the current hurricane season by the World Meteorological Organization, which arranges them alphabetically. Any storms strong enough to warrant names are given them in that same order.