Aug. 29, 2002 – The National Weather Service upgraded Tropical Depression 4 to Tropical Storm Dolly at its 5 p.m. update on Thursday.
With sustained winds of 40 mph and gusts up to 50 mph, Dolly was just one mile over tropical storm status. Tropical storm force winds extend outwards 60 miles from the center. At 5 p.m. it was centered at 9.8 degrees north latitude and 32.7 degrees west longitude and moving west at 13 mph. The barometric pressure stood at 29.67 inches.
At the 11 a.m. update on Thursday, the agency had designated the storm a tropical depression. Francisco Dilleste, a program manager with the National Weather Service in San Juan, said earlier in the day that "some strengthening was possible" over the next 24 hours.
Dilleste said initial projections were that the storm would go either north or south of the territory on Wednesday.
Dolly is the first tropical storm to form in the eastern Atlantic this year, signaling the start of what forecasters call the Cape Verde Season. This tropical storm formed southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. At 5 p.m., it was located about 640 miles west southwest of the Cape Verdes.
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