Debuting in East Atlantic: Tropical Storm Debby

Tropical Storm Debby developed off Cape Verde in the Eastern Atlantic on Tuesday, forecasters said.

The depression that formed Monday was centered 300 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde islands and was moving west-northwest at about 18 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph, with higher gusts. Forecasters said Debby would strengthen over the next 24 hours.

The government of Cape Verde, 350 miles off the African coast, discontinued a tropical storm warning as the system passed. No damage was reported.

Long-range forecasts show the storm nearing Bermuda in about a week.

But it was still too early to tell whether it would hit the United States, senior hurricane specialist James Franklin said.

Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season.

The storm was not expected to reach hurricane strength in the next five days, the center said.

The current hurricane season has been quiet so far despite forecasts that it would be an active one. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

Last year there were a record 28 tropical storms and hurricanes, including Katrina, which killed more than 1,300 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast.