Tropical storms percolate in Atlantic

Tropical Storm Jose was expected to weaken while an unnamed tropical depression was forming south of the Cape Verde Islands, forecasters said Monday. No coastal watches or warnings for either storm were in effect, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 5 a.m. EDT advisory. Jose was about 340 miles north of Bermuda and about 515 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and moving along a northerly track at 23 mph, the center said. Jose was expected to veer north-northeast later Monday, lose some of its tropical storm characteristics and dissipate by early Tuesday. Tropical Depression 12, with sustained winds of 35 mph, was about 395 miles south-southwest of the southernmost of the Cape Verde Islands and tracking west at 15 mph. The hurricane center said the depression could gather strength during the next two days.