STORM SEASON: Tropical Storm Beryl forms but will not affect South Florida.

The small storm system, more than 2,300 miles from Fort Lauderdale, is expected to gain strength before dying out late in the weekend.

Tropical Storm Beryl, the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season’s second named storm, has formed in the central Atlantic and is expected to strengthen but doesn’t pose a threat to South Florida.

Beryl was in the central Atlantic as of Thursday night and moving northwest toward the Lesser Antilles, the string of islands that marks the eastern perimeter of the Caribbean.

Beryl’s maximum wind speeds strengthened from 40 mph on Thursday afternoon to 45 mph by evening with gusts clocked at up to 55 mph, according to an 8 p.m. storm update.

The small storm system, more than 2,300 miles from Fort Lauderdale, is expected to gain strength before dying out late in the weekend.

“Beryl could become a hurricane by Friday or Saturday,” according to a hurricane center forecaster.

It was expected that the storm would dissipate on its approach to the Caribbean, east of the Lesser Antilles and weaken into a tropical wave by Sunday afternoon.

“The system is forecast to degenerate into an open trough east of the Lesser Antilles over the weekend,” according to a forecast advisory on the National Hurricane Center’s website.