The year's 13th tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean formed Monday and was expected to become Tropical Storm Lorenzo by Tuesday, though the tropics overall remain more subdued than had been expected earlier this year.
The depression was about 650 miles southeast of Bermuda as of Monday afternoon, and it's not expected to affect land, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was expected to move northeastward in the middle of the Atlantic, briefly strengthening to become Lorenzo, before weakening again in unfavorable winds.
The storm would become the 12th named system of the season if its maximum sustained wind speeds rise from the 35 mph measured Monday to 39 mph, the threshhold for a tropical storm.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had predicted 13-19 named storms would form in the Atlantic this hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. While the final number could fall within that range, the intensity of storms had been predicted to be generally high.
NOAA called for 6-9 of the named storms to reach hurricane status in a mid-season forecast released in August. Three to five were expected to reach "major" hurricane status, with at least 111 mph winds.
So far, there have been two hurricanes this season: Humberto and Ingrid, both in September. Neither strengthened beyond Category 1 hurricane status, the weakest classification with winds of 74-95 mph.
In an average year, five hurricanes would have formed by this point in the season, while 10 total named storms would have formed, according to the hurricane center.