Miami ? A tropical depression brewing over the open Atlantic was nearing tropical storm strength Monday night, forecasters said.

At 10 p.m. CDT, the depression had sustained winds of 35 mph, 4 mph shy of becoming a tropical storm and the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

It was centered about 1,100 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and moving northwest at 13 mph, a path forecasters said they expected to continue for the next day, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The depression would be named Florence if it reaches tropical storm strength. Forecasters said it was expected to become a tropical storm today.

It comes on the heels of Tropical Storm Ernesto, which was briefly the season’s first Atlantic hurricane.

Ernesto hit the U.S. mainland at tropical storm strength, first moving over Florida, then swinging out to sea before hitting the Carolinas just short of hurricane strength last week. The storm and its remnants wreaked havoc along the East Coast.

About 9,000 homes and business in Connecticut were still without power Monday morning because of the storm.