Miami, Fla.(970 WFLA)-The fourth named storm of the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane season is strengthening, but it's located over the far north Atlantic and poses no threat to any land areas.
Debby is now officially a tropical storm with top winds up to 45 miles an hour. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center predict Debby will start to weaken by tonight or early tomorrow and dissipate by tomorrow night.
At 5:00 AM, the center of Tropical Storm Debby was located near latitude 40.8 North, longitude 48.8 West. Debby is moving toward the north-northeast near 9 mph, and this general motion is forecast to continue this morning. A turn toward the northeast is forecast by this afternoon, and that motion should continue into Thursday.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 45 mph with higher gusts. Little change is strength is forecast today, with slow weakening expected to begin late tonight or on Thursday.
Debby is forecast to dissipate over the far northern Atlantic by Thursday night.Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center.
The estimated minimum central pressure is 1003 mb (29.62 inches).
Graphic credit: National Hurricane Center