Tropical storm Colin forms in Atlantic

Tropical storm Colin formed in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean on Tuesday but posed no immediate threat to land, the US National Hurricane Center said.                                           

The storm had top sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was centered 945 miles (1,525 km) east of the Lesser Antilles. It was moving moving west to west-northwest on a path that could take it well east of the Bahamas by the weekend.

"The official forecast calls for modest strengthening during the next 36 hours followed by a leveling off of intensity thereafter," the hurricane center forecasters said.                                           

Swirling masses of thunderstorms become tropical storms if their sustained winds reach 39 mph (63 kph) and they become hurricanes if those rotating winds reach 74 mph (119 kph).                                           

The storm was expected to keep away from the Gulf of Mexico, where US oil and natural gas operations are concentrated and where BP Plc is working to permanently seal a ruptured oil well that caused the biggest offshore spill in US history.

It was too early to know whether Colin could eventually threaten the US east coast.