Will Tropical Storm Danny 2015 path threaten Florida? Forecasters say it’s too

Tropical Storm Danny is the fourth named storm of the 2015 Hurricane Season.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Tropical Storm Danny was centered about 1,600 miles off the Windward Islands – very far from any patch of land – as it moved west at a 12 mph.

Danny is moving to the west at 14 miles per hour and has maximum sustained wind of 50 miles per hour.

The official forecast is for Tropical Storm Danny to become Hurricane Danny by Friday or Saturday as it continues on its westward track toward the Leeward Islands.

The development follows an unusually quiet August, raising the prospect of no named hurricanes this year in Atlantic. Some reliable computer models have Danny completely dissipating after about six or seven days, while others show some slower weakening.

A tropical disturbance in the eastern Atlantic Ocean now has a name. Dry air in the middle levels of the atmosphere from dust storms moving off the west coast of Africa is forecast to potentially inhibit further strengthening in three to five days.

They’re keeping their eye on the situation in the Caribbean, however, where factors seemed less than favorable for Danny to strengthen – and a pressure ridge that would give the storm added westward speed would also keep it from growing.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the center of Tropical Storm Danny was located near latitude 11.3 north, longitude 40.2 west.

Strong winds aloft (wind shear) can prevent a tropical system from developing or cause an organized tropical system to weaken.

It’s still too early to tell, though, if Danny will have any impact on the United States and, if so, where or when.

“The most likely time for the system to strengthen is through Thursday, since beyond this point wind shear is likely to increase as the system approaches and later moves into the Caribbean”, Duffey said.

Stay tuned for tropical updates on News 13 at:51 past every hour as we monitor Tropical Depression Danny.