Tropical Storm Henriette formed today in the East Pacific and is expected to maintain its strength as it approaches northeast of the Hawaiian islands this weekend.

The National Hurricane Center said at 11 a.m. that the depression has been upgraded to a tropical storm, with its center about 895 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja, Calif., and nearly 2,300 miles east-southeast of Hilo.

Maximum sustained winds were 45 mph and the storm was moving west-northwest at about 15 mph. Tropical storm-force winds extend up to 45 miles from the center. Forecasters at the Miami-based NHC expect the storm’s west-northwest movement to continue for a few days.

By Saturday, however, Henriette is expected to make a gradual turn toward the northwest “in response to a mid-latitude, mid-level trough

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