ORLANDO, Fla. – Tropical Storm Bret formed in the Atlantic on Monday and is forecast to become a hurricane this week, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As of the NHC’s 11 p.m. update, Tropical Storm Bret is 1,210 miles east of the southern Windward Islands. It’s forecast to move west at about 18 mph across the central tropical Atlantic. It will approach the Lesser Antilles late this week.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds are at 40 mph with higher gusts. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center.
Bret is expected to become a hurricane in the next couple of days, and approach the Lesser Antilles Thursday or Friday.
Another disturbance being monitored in the tropics is expected to become a tropical depression this week.
Another area the NHC is monitoring is several hundred miles south-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands and continues to produce a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. The NHC said environmental conditions are favorable for development and it could become a tropical depression in the next couple of days as it moves west at 10 to 15 mph across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic.
This area has a 70% chance of development through the next 48 hours and 80% chance of development in the next seven days.
Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
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