RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — There are now two tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean as Rina has formed behind Philippe.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami’s first advisory on the newly-formed Rina says the storm is located about 1190 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and is moving north-northwest at nearly 10 miles per hour.
Forecasters say the storm currently has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, with tropical storm-force winds extending 60 miles from the center.
Rina is expected to gradually strengthen over the next few days. There are no current threats to land and the storm is expected to turn northward early next week, but forecasters say there is a possibility of the two active tropical storms running into each other.
“Confidence in the track forecast is lower than normal based on the model spread and uncertainty regarding the potential interaction with Tropical Storm Philippe during the next several days,” the NHC’s forecast discussion on Rina says.
Tropical Storm Philippe still moving slowly
The new storm formed right behind Tropical Storm Philippe, which is currently located about 560 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and crawling west-northwest at about 2 mph.
Philippe currently has maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, with tropical storm-force winds extending up to 175 miles from the storm’s center.
There are currently no threats to land from Philippe, which is expected to remain east of the northern Leeward Islands over the next few days, but those islands as well as the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are encouraged to monitor the system.
