Earl is a tropical storm northeast of the Caribbean Sea. Danielle is much farther north over the open Atlantic. Neither is a threat to the US. The closest storm to us is Tropical Storm Earl which is a small system just northeast of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean Sea. It may bring gusty winds and some heavy rain to the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the next few days. It will curve to the north around midweek and could become a hurricane as it heads north/northeast over the open Atlantic. Much farther north, Danielle strengthened back into a hurricane over the northern Atlantic. It was downgraded to a tropical storm early Saturday, but it quickly regained strength. It will eventually move to the northeast over the far north Atlantic north of the Azores. Danielle became the first hurricane of the Atlantic season and is the 7th latest first hurricane in recorded history. A tropical wave will emerge off the Africa today and has a low chance of tropical development in the next 5 days.