Add The New York Post on Google Tropical Storm Dolly formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday — just days after the iconic country music singer’s death.
The weather system, whose timing is purely coincidental and not connected to Dolly Parton, is the fourth storm of the Atlantic’s 2026 hurricane season, following Tropical Storms Arthur, Bertha, and Cristobal.
Forecasters expect Dolly, which was packing sustained winds of 40 mph, to weaken as it approaches the Leeward Islands.
But the tropical storm will still produce heavy rain and could reorganize if conditions are favorable further west, according to meteorologists.
This graphic shows the most likely arrival time of tropical storm force winds from Dolly. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect “If the storm can stay together long enough, conditions more conducive to organization around the Bahamas could allow Dolly to reorganize, but if the storm just gets ripped apart by the shear and land interactions it may never redevelop,” AccuWeather hurricane expert Alex DaSilva in a statement to The Post.
DaSilva noted that there “is certainly a chance for this wave to bring rain to [the] Southeastern US one way or another.”
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Dolly was around 1,555 miles east of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean — moving west at about 24 mph.
Rainfall of 2 to 4 inches is expected across the northern Lesser Antilles, with localized totals reaching up to 12 inches.
Wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph, with peaks up to 60 mph, are forecasted across Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Sint Maarten, Guadeloupe, and Montserrat — where Dolly is expected to make its first land interaction.
A satellite image released by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Dolly over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. NOAA via AP The National Hurricane Center and the World Meteorological Organization use a revolving list of names to easily issue warnings about the same systems worldwide.
Names are chosen based on length — preferably shorter — and easy pronunciation in the regions of the world where they are used, according to the Associated Press.
