Igor: Next Tropical Storm

The name Igor sounds like a storm, and it is.

Igor is the latest tropical storm to form in the Atlantic Ocean could be around for quite a while.

The 40 mph system formed just off the coast of Africa and was shambling slowly west Wednesday. It was expected to drench the Cape Verde Islands overnight and early Thursday, reaching hurricane strength sometime this weekend.

From there, it's far too soon to predict Igor's fate, said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County.

``This thing is more than 3,500 miles from Miami,'' he said. ``It's more than a week away from the Leewards.''

Igor, he said, was expected to track generally west along an atmospheric ridge, which could weaken and allow the storm to begin moving more to the west-northwest. It's an initial track similar to the one followed by Hurricane Earl, which was pushed by a cold trough back out to sea as it approached the mid-Atlantic coast. Igor is too far out for forecasters to speculate whether it will eventually curve out to sea as well.