Tropical Storm Arlene forms in Caribbean; Cuba issues storm watch

<p>Tropical Storm Arlene developed Thursday in the northwest Caribbean Sea, edging closer to western Cuba as the Atlantic hurricane season's first named storm.</p><p>Arlene had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph after strengthening from a tropical depression that formed Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. Tropical storms have top sustained winds of 39 mph to 74 mph.</p><p>Arlene was expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico by Friday, and hurricane specialists said interests in the northwestern Caribbean and the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, including Louisiana and Florida, should closely monitor the system.</p><p>"Our best estimate of the track possibilities are that anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle could expect the center to be approaching them by the middle of the weekend," hurricane specialist Richard Knabb said.</p><p>Forecasters said Arlene was likely to remain a tropical storm, but Navy meteorologist Lt. Dave Roberts said there was an "outside shot" that the system could develop into a weak hurricane, depending on atmospheric conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.</p><p>At 8 a.m., the storm's center was about 190 miles south-southeast of the western tip of Cuba. It was moving north at about 8 mph, and this motion could bring the storm's center near western Cuba as early as Thursday night, forecasters said.</p><p>The Cuban government has issued a tropical storm watch for the western province of Pinar Del Rio to the capital of Havana.</p><p>The depression was causing heavy rains and squalls across the Cayman Islands and western and central Cuba. Forecasters warned that very heavy rains in Nicaragua and Honduras could cause flash floods and mud slides.</p><p>Last year, the first named storm of the season was Tropical Storm Alex, which formed Aug. 1. It later became a hurricane and came within 9 miles of the Outer Banks, N.C.</p><p>Within weeks, Florida was struck by Hurricane Charley, the first of four hurricanes to hit the state last season. It was followed by hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. The four hurricanes damaged one out of every five homes in Florida.</p><p>The storms caused about 130 deaths in the U.S. and are blamed for a total $22 billion in damage.</p><p>Hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc228)</p>