Tropical Storm Fay formed over the northern Atlantic, but forecasters issued no coastal watches or warnings and expected the system to stay away from land.
Fay formed early Sunday about 450 miles southwest of the Azores, The Associated Press reported.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said no coastal watches or warnings were in effect. The AP account also said Fay did not appear to threaten land.
The Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands sit about 800 miles from mainland Portugal.
At 5 a.m. EDT, Fay had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The storm was moving north-northeast at just 5 mph.
The National Hurricane Center expected Fay to gain some strength in the short term. Forecasters also said the storm would likely dissipate by the end of the week.
The account did not give an exact formation time. It also did not include a detailed forecast track beyond Fay’s reported movement toward the north-northeast.
Those limits leave a focused picture: a named storm had developed far from land, carried 45 mph winds and had triggered no formal coastal alerts.
Storm coverage should keep the public informed without turning every distant system into a crisis. Clear facts and measured warnings serve people better than needless alarm.
