“The wind field has shrunk so that Dolly is no longer a subtropical system,” says CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen.
Wind data derived from satellites shows the storm has strengthened to 45 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in a special update.
This is the third time in this decade that a storm called “D” has formed so early in the Atlantic, says CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward.
“Dolly formed in the North Atlantic: the 3rd oldest named storm formation in the 4th Atlantic on record (since 1851),” Colorado State University research scientist Phil Klotzbach tweeted.
The storm is 370 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“The good news is that the storm is expected to last only a short time and drift away from the United States into the open waters of the North Atlantic,” Ward said.
All models agree that if Dolly continues to move east-northeast and will turn more northeast on Tuesday.
Later on a Tuesday afternoon or evening, the storm should begin to weaken.
The minimum should dissipate before early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.
