Tropical Storm Dolly isn’t named after Dolly Parton
USA TODAY Network’s Brandi Addison explains that Tropical Storm Dolly shares a name with Dolly Parton, but that’s all.
Short-lived Tropical Storm Dolly weakened into a tropical wave over the central Atlantic Ocean on Aug. 28, forecasters from the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm’s remnants could bring heavy rain to the Caribbean islands, including drought-stricken Puerto Rico, over the weekend and early next week.
The storm gained special attention as it formed days after the death of Dolly Parton. The name of the storm has nothing to do with the death of Parton on Aug. 25; the names of storms in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific come from a decades-old alphabetical list that is repeated every six years and is maintained by a committee of the World Meteorological Organization in Switzerland.
According to the hurricane center, as of the morning of Aug. 28, Dolly’s remnant’s maximum sustained winds remained near 40 mph with higher gusts.
Heavy rain from Dolly’s remnants could affect the Leeward Islands late Saturday, Aug. 29, into Sunday, Aug. 30, with rainfall moving into the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola on Sunday, Aug. 30, and Monday, Aug. 31.
“This heavy rain may produce flash flooding within areas of higher terrain of the Leeward Islands,” the hurricane center said.
Welcome rain in Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico, the rain will be mostly welcome, unless it falls too fast and heavily, forecasters said. A combination of severe drought, low reservoir levels, a major aqueduct rupture and aging infrastructure has left the island territory facing a water crisis, officials said.
“Drought conditions continued to expand and intensify” over the past week in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Drought Monitor said on Aug. 27.
In an online forecast discussion, the National Weather Service in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said that moisture from the approaching system “should increase the potential for showers and thunderstorms across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and may provide some short-term relief from the ongoing rainfall deficits.”
“While the storms may bring beneficial rain to needy areas, they could cause dangerous conditions as well due to flash flooding,” said AccuWeather hurricane expert Alex DaSilva in an online forecast.
Why didn’t Dolly strengthen into a hurricane?
The combination of increasing southerly vertical wind shear, dry air, and Dolly’s fast forward speed limited intensification, the hurricane center said.
Could Dolly come back to life next week?
According to Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist at WPLG-TV in Miami, one computer model, Google DeepMind’s 1,000-member ensemble system, “puts redevelopment odds at a negligible 2% for next week so it’s nothing we should be concerned about.”
Track Dolly’s remnants
Pacific remains active
There are two tropical storms in the Pacific Ocean, the hurricane center said: Lowell and Karina. Neither is an immediate threat to any land area, but both have a good chance to become Category 1 or 2 hurricanes, according to Weather Trader meteorologist Ryan Maue in an email to USA TODAY.
Lowell could threaten Hawaii in 8-10 days, Maue said.
Contributing: Josh Rivera, USA TODAY
Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA TODAY, with a focus on weather and climate.