Tropical Storm Bertha forms in eastern Atlantic

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Bertha formed Thursday in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean near the Cape Verde Islands, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The NHC expects the storm to still be in the open Atlantic Ocean far away from North America in five days.

In addition, the NHC does not expect Bertha to strengthen into a hurricane (winds over 74 mph) over the next five days.

The center of Bertha was located about 190 miles south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands.

The storm was moving west-northwest at about 14 mph.

Maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph, with some gradual strengthening expected during the next day or two.

Over the next five days or so, weather models forecast, the depression would move west-northwest about 1,500 miles to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. That would still be about 1,000 miles northeast of Puerto Rico.

Some of the weather models even show the storm starting to turn away from North America toward the east in about five days.

Energy traders watch for storms that could enter the Gulf of Mexico and threaten U.S. oil and gas production facilities.

Commodities traders also watch storms that could hit agriculture crops like citrus and cotton in Florida and other states along the Gulf Coast.

The NHC will issue another advisory at 5 p.m. EDT.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Walter Bagley)