A tropical depression formed in the Atlantic on Wednesday and was expected to become the hurricane season’s ninth tropical storm but was not forecast to threaten land, U.S. forecasters said.
The swirling mass of thunderclouds was located around 810 miles (1,305 km) east-southeast of Bermuda by 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
It was not expected to reach hurricane strength and was forecast to stay over open waters as it moved initially northwestward and then gradually curved to the northeast, on a similar track to this month’s hurricanes Helene and Gordon.
Tropical depression nine’s maximum sustained winds were at 35 miles per hour (55 km per hour), below the 39 mph (63 kph) threshold at which cyclones become tropical storms and are given names. It would be called Tropical Storm Isaac when it does.
The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season has so far been quieter than initially expected and considerably tamer than 2005, when a record 28 tropical storms spawned 15 hurricanes including Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans.
The United States has been spared a hurricane strike this year. The last two hurricanes, Gordon and Helene, curved relatively harmlessly across the Atlantic back toward Portugal’s Azores Islands, northern Spain and Ireland, where their remnants dumped heavy rain and kicked up some gale-force winds.
The six-month season does not close, however, until the end of November and more storms could yet form.