Next Atlantic tropical storm to be named Dolly — pure coincidence with Dolly Parton's death

The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said Tuesday evening that a cluster of thunderstorms south of the Cabo Verde Islands, off Africa, had favourable conditions to become a tropical depression within the coming week. Should the system strengthen further and reach sustained winds of at least 63 kph, it would be designated Tropical Storm Dolly.

Storm names are assigned according to procedures set by the World Meteorological Organisation. For the Atlantic basin, lists run alphabetically and alternate between male and female names, with each list reused every six years. This season opened with Tropical Storm Arthur making landfall on the US Gulf Coast in June, followed by Tropical Storm Bertha, which brought heavy rain to Louisiana and Texas in July, and Tropical Storm Cristobal, which formed and dissipated quickly in the Atlantic earlier in August.

Forecasters were also tracking a separate disturbance far northeast of Bermuda, but described it as disorganised on Tuesday with little chance of further development.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted a below-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of the El Niño climate pattern, forecasting eight to 14 named storms overall, of which three to six could become hurricanes and one to three could reach major hurricane strength.

Authorities name storms to make it easier to issue warnings and avoid public confusion. The WMO says names should be short, easy to pronounce and familiar within the regions where they are used; the organisation periodically reviews the lists, and names of storms that proved especially deadly or destructive are sometimes retired out of sensitivity.

Country music star Dolly Parton died on Tuesday at age 80 after what her team described as a brief battle with cancer. The overlap between her death and the upcoming storm's likely name is entirely coincidental.