Tropical Storm Fay forms in distant Atlantic, NHC says

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Sep 20, 2026

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Tropical Depression Six developed into Tropical Storm Fay early Sunday in the far eastern Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

As of the NHC’s 11 a.m. advisory, the center of the storm was located about 430 miles southwest of the Azores moving northeast at 3 mph with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.

“This motion is expected to continues through the rest of the day. Afterwards a turn to the southwest is expected on Monday,” forecasters said. “Additional strengthening is expected during the next day or so, and Fay could approach hurricane intensity tonight. A gradual weakening trend is expected to begin on Monday.”

Tropical-storm-force winds extend out up to 45 miles from its center.

It is no threat to land.

The system became the sixth named storm of this slow Atlantic hurricane season.

So far the hurricane season has yet to produce an actual hurricane, though it has seen the formation of tropical storms Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly and Edouard.

Edouard made landfall in Louisiana with the NHC’s last advisory coming on Sept. 3 as it moved inland over Texas.

It’s been quiet in the tropics since then.

Hurricane season began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30, but the height of hurricane season runs from mid-August through mid-October.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last month updated its seasonal forecast and now expects between seven and 13 named storms this year. Of those, two to six would become hurricanes. It also predicted that there might not be any major hurricanes this year, or at most two.

Already, 2026 was forecast to have lower-than-average storm generation, and that has been reduced even further with the latest forecasts from the NOAA and other weather groups.

An average year would see 14 named storms and seven hurricanes, with three of those growing to Category 3 strength or higher.

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