Tropical Storm Leslie forms in the Atlantic

By Judson Jones

Tropical Storm Leslie formed Wednesday, becoming the 12th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and the fifth in the past two weeks.

Leslie is one of two storms churning over the open waters of the Atlantic; Hurricane Kirk is the other. Forecasters expect Leslie, too, to become a hurricane by the weekend. Neither is currently a threat to land.

Leslie was about 500 miles from the southernmost Cape Verde islands, slowly moving west, the National Hurricane Center said late Wednesday.

Hurricane Kirk intensified into a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph Wednesday night, becoming a major hurricane earlier than forecasters previously expected.