2 tropical storms, Paulette and Rene, form in the Atlantic

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Rene was menacing the Cabo Verde islands on Tuesday after forming off the coast of West Africa.

The Atlantic’s earliest known 17th named storm, Rene breaks the previous record of Rita, which formed Sept. 18, 2005. It was one of two storms that formed Monday; Tropical Storm Paulette took shape earlier in the day in the central Atlantic, far from land.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Rene would produce tropical storm-force winds and heavy rainfall across the island nation on Tuesday before curving west-northwest a path far from other land.

Rene was centered about 40 miles south-southeast of Santo Antao with top sustained winds of 40 mph, and moving west at about 15 mph.

Paulette, meanwhile, had maximum sustained winds were 50 mph with modest strengthening expected over the next few days.

The storm was centered about 1,330 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands and moving northwest at 6 mph, posing no current threats to land.