MIAMI — Tropical Storm Dolly formed Thursday morning in the Atlantic far from land, forecasters confirmed.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Dolly formed over the central tropical Atlantic. Forecasters advised people in the Leeward Islands to monitor its progress.

Dolly was moving west at 24 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.

While Dolly formed just two days after the death of country music icon Dolly Parton, the naming of the storm is pure coincidence, forecasters say.

Storm systems are named by procedures set by the World Meteorological Organization, and the lists of names are reused every six years. For the Atlantic region, the lists are alphabetical and alternate male and female names.

This season started with Tropical Storm Arthur coming ashore on the U.S. Gulf Coast in June, and Tropical Storm Bertha dumped rain in Louisiana and Texas in July. Tropical Storm Cristobal formed and quickly dissipated in the Atlantic earlier in August.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast a below-average Atlantic hurricane season due to El Nino. It forecast eight to 14 named storms, with three to six of them reaching hurricane strength and one to three of those intensifying to major hurricanes.

The NHC and other weather agencies name storms to easily communicate warnings about them to people and to avoid confusion. The WMO says names are chosen to be short, easy to pronounce and familiar to the regions of the world where the storm names are used. It meets regularly to evaluate potential names, and some names are retired for reasons of sensitivity, particularly for deadly or destructive storms.

One name from the 2025 season was retired, Melissa, which was a Category 5 hurricane that brought devastation to the Caribbean.

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