Tropical Storm Dolly dissipates over the Atlantic Ocean; some islands may see heavy rain
Tropical Storm Dolly dissipated over the Atlantic Ocean and was downgraded to an open tropical wave, the National Hurricane Center said Friday.
The storm formed on Thursday and moved quickly toward the Leeward Islands as a potential heavy rainmaker. It was the fourth named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season.
The storm is forecast to continue moving west at about 25 miles per hour over the next few days, the NHC said, with gusts of about 40 mph. The winds associated with Dolly's remnants are expected to "decrease below tropical-storm force" on Saturday, the NHC said. Tropical-storm force winds are between 39 and 73 mph, according to the Miami-based center.
The remnants will near the Leeward Islands Saturday night into Sunday, bringing heavy rain to the area. Flash flooding may be possible in areas of higher terrain, the NHC said.
The Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti may see rain on Sunday and Monday, the NHC said. The center said it will no longer track updates related to the former tropical storm.
The current Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through the end of November, has been quieter than usual, which meteorologists had predicted due to the strengthening El Niño in the Pacific.
Dolly formed, coincidentally, just days after the death of country music legend Dolly Parton at 80 years old.
The list of names for storms is prepared six years in advance of the current hurricane season by the World Meteorological Organization, which arranges them alphabetically. Any storms strong enough to warrant names are given them in that same order.
