Tropical Storm Josephine Closer to Land, Kyle Moving Away

MIAMI (AP) -- Tropical Storm Kyle was moving away from the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States early Saturday as Tropical Storm Josephine continued its crawl toward islands in the Caribbean.

Threats to land appeared to be minimal from both storms, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center's 11 a.m. advisories. Kyle was centered 360 miles (580 kilometers) southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, while Josephine was 200 miles (320 kilometers) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands.

Josephine had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph), forecasters said, and was tracking west-northwest at 16 mph (26 kph), while Kyle was churning east-northeast at 21 mph (33 kph). Kyle's maximum sustained winds were clocked at 50 mph (85 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for either storm. Josephine was forecast to bring 1 to 3 inches (3 to 8 centimeters) of rain to parts of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

It's been an active Atlantic hurricane season and forecasters predict several more named storms are on the way.

So far this year, Cristobal, Danielle, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine and Kyle have set records for being the earliest named Atlantic storms of their respective place in the alphabet. Only Hanna and Isaias this year have developed into hurricanes.

Before Kyle, the earliest “K-named” storm was Katrina, which formed Aug. 24, 2005, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

Isaias killed two people in the Caribbean earlier this month. Several others across multiple U.S. states were then killed when the storm made landfall in North Carolina and moved through the East Coast, leading to floods, tornadoes, fires, and widespread power outages.

Last month, Hurricane Hanna slammed the Texas Gulf Coast with high winds and rains that flooded streets and knocked out power across the region.