The first tropical storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season formed Saturday off the southeastern US coast with winds of 45 miles (75 kilometers) per hour, US weather forecasters said.
Dubbed “Alberto,” the storm was 140 miles (225 kilometers) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, moving southwest at a speed of three miles (six kilometers) per hour, the National Hurricane Center.
Alberto was the earliest tropical storm to form in the Atlantic since 2003, and it was the first time one has formed before the official start of the hurricane season in both the Atlantic and east Pacific basins.
