ORLANDO, Fla. – History was made in the tropics Halloween night. The 28th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed in the Caribbean Saturday tying 2005 for most named storms in a single season.
Eta also breaks the record for most names ever used by the National Hurricane Center. Zeta in 2005 previously held that record. The Greek Alphabet is used when the original set of names run out due to an extremely active season. The only other time the Greek Alphabet was needed was the 2005 season.
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In 2005, while there were 28 storms, only 27 names were given. During the National Hurricane Center’s post season analysis of the 2005 season, a storm was found to have been missed, but was worthy of a name.
The storm, however, was not named since it was determined it did in fact meet the criteria of getting a name after the season was over. Because of this, there is an unnamed 28th storm in the 2005 season.
As of 4 a.m. Sunday, Eta was 205 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and was heading west at 15 mph. Forecasters said maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph with higher gusts.
Additional strengthening is forecast, and Eta is expected to become a hurricane by Monday. The center of the cyclone is expected to be near the northeastern coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras by Monday night.