The Tribune

TROPICAL Storm Erin has formed and was yesterday moving away from the Cape Verde Islands in the eastern Atlantic, with expectations that it will strengthen over the next two days.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said yesterday that the storm’s maximum sustained winds were near 40mph.

The storm is centred about 115 miles west-southwest of Brava, in the Cape Verde Islands, and is moving west-northwest at 15 mph.

Forecasters expect the storm to continue in that general direction over the next couple of days.

Meanwhile a broad area of low pressure, accompanied by a large but disorganised area of cloudiness and showers has moved over the Yucatan peninsula and there was still potential

for it to turn into a hurricane once it moves over the Gulf of Mexico today, forecasters said.

It is likely to move toward the central Gulf of Mexico where the upper-level winds would only favour slow development, if any, into a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center believes there is a high chance of it becoming a hurricane during the next five days.