Tropical Storm Fay Regains Strength Over the Central Atlantic
Tropical Storm Fay has redeveloped after a brief lull, strengthening as it tracks westward over the open Atlantic with no coastal areas currently under watch or warning.
Fay Strengthens Far From Land
As of 3 p.m. GMT Thursday, Fay's center was located about 990 miles west-southwest of the Azores, with maximum sustained winds up to 50 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The storm is moving west at about 6 mph, and forecasters expect that general westward motion to continue over the next few days with some further decrease in forward speed.
Fay had briefly weakened before regaining tropical storm status earlier Thursday morning, and continued strengthening through the afternoon. Slight additional strengthening remains possible over the next couple of days, followed by gradual weakening, with Fay expected to drop back to a tropical depression by the weekend. There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect, since the storm remains well out to sea.
A Second System Could Develop Near Cabo Verde
A separate area of low pressure a few hundred miles south-southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands is also being watched, producing a large area of showers and thunderstorms. The NHC says this system could organize into a short-lived tropical depression as soon as Thursday or Friday while it drifts north-northwestward, though strong upper-level winds are expected to end its chances of further development by the weekend.
The NHC puts the odds of formation at 60% within both the next 48 hours and the next seven days. The Cabo Verde Islands should monitor the system closely, since gusty winds, heavy rain and flash flooding are possible there as soon as Friday.
What's Next
Elsewhere in the tropics, the NHC is also tracking Hurricane Polo and Hurricane Odalys in the eastern Pacific and Tropical Storm Nolo in the central Pacific, making for an active stretch across multiple basins.
Fay itself poses no immediate threat to land given its current track and distance from the coast, but the Cabo Verde system bears watching over the next day or two as it tries to organize.
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