Gamma not expected to hit US

MIAMI — A tropical depression formed in the southeast Caribbean Sea and was expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Gamma on Monday, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm, which formed Sunday, was expected to be south of Jamaica by the end of the week, over Caribbean waters still warm enough to feed a major hurricane, said hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart. It is not expected to threaten the United States. At 4 a.m. EST, the storm was located about 150 miles west of St. Lucia. Its maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph and was moving west-northwest near 10 mph. Dangerous rip currents and up to 12 inches of rain were possible across the Windward Islands, the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Stewart said. If the system becomes a tropical storm — which will happen if its maximum sustained winds reach 39 mph — it would become the 24th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, extending this year's record. The previous record of 21 named storms had stood since 1933.