The remnants of Tropical Storm Dolly are still generating showers and thunderstorms as they approach the Caribbean, forecasters said Saturday, days after the National Hurricane Center downgraded the fourth named storm of the season to an open tropical wave. The storm formed in the central tropical Atlantic on Thursday morning, less than two days after country music queen Dolly Parton died. The storm’s name is purely coincidental.
There are currently no coastal watches or warnings in effect, but NHC forecasters advised people in the Leeward Islands to monitor the progress of the storm’s remnants.
The storm names for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season are selected well in advance and are not chosen to honor specific people. The strict naming process is established by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Dolly is the fourth named storm of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season.
Two tropical storms have also formed in the Pacific. As of Saturday morning, Karina had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and was moving northwest at 12 mph, close to hurricane strength. Lowell was at 45 mph. The NHC warned that Karina could bring life-threatening surf and rip current conditions to the Baja California Peninsula.
Tropical Storms Karina and Lowell in the Pacific.
(Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: NOAA)Where is the tropical wave, and what is its path?
According to the hurricane center’s Saturday morning outlook:
The remnants were several hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands.
They were moving west at about 25 mph.
Redevelopment over the next seven days is put at 10%.
The remnants are approaching the Leeward Islands and are expected to move over them Saturday night and Sunday, according to the NHC.
The biggest threats now
Starting late Saturday into Sunday, heavy rain from the remnants of Dolly could begin affecting the Leeward Islands.
On Sunday and Monday, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola could also be affected by heavy rain. MyRadar Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci said those rains could actually be beneficial to Puerto Rico, where two-thirds of the U.S. territory is facing severe or extreme drought.
It could produce flash flooding in higher-elevation areas of the Leeward Islands, the NHC said.
A separate weak area of low pressure is drifting west across the northern Gulf of America, formerly the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 miles south-southwest of Pensacola, Fla. The NHC said Saturday that any development would be slow.
How are tropical cyclone names selected?
The WMO has developed different rules for naming tropical cyclones, depending on where they occur. Names are used to identify tropical cyclones because they’ve proven to be the fastest way to communicate warnings and raise public awareness of preparations. Naming storms also avoids confusion, especially when multiple storms are active.
For the Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere, cyclones are named alphabetically and alternate between men’s and women’s names.
These are the factors the WMO considers when selecting names:
Short names for ease of use in communication
Appropriate significance in different languages
Unique — same names cannot be used in other regions
How is the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season shaping up?
The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and lasts until Nov. 30. Forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintained their prediction for a below-normal season in the Atlantic basin, with seven to 13 total named storms expected, according to the Aug. 6 updated outlook. Of those named storms, two to six are forecast to become hurricanes, including up to two major hurricanes (considered Category 3, 4 or 5).
An average season has 14 named storms, including seven hurricanes, three of which are major.
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season produced 13 named storms, including five hurricanes, four of which were major.
As of Saturday morning, the season’s total Accumulated Cyclone Energy — a measure of the combined intensity and duration of storms — was running 89% below the 1991-2020 normal, according to the National Hurricane Center’s own season summary. It’s the quietest start to an Atlantic season in nearly 40 years.
