ORLANDO, Fla. – Tropical Storm Sam strengthened into Hurricane Sam overnight after rapidly intensifying. Hurricane Sam is now a Category 2.
As of 11 p.m. Friday, Hurricane Sam had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and was moving west-northwest at 14 mph.
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The center of Sam was about 1,215 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands.
Sam is expected to intensify into a category 4 hurricane over the weekend.
Computer forecasts have the storm going north of the Caribbean Islands and turning away from the U.S., but there is uncertainty in the long-term future of Sam. Here’s why.
Elsewhere in the tropics, Subtropical Storm Teresa formed north of Bermuda.
The storm is 140 miles north of Bermuda with sustained winds of 45 mph and is moving -west-northwest at 10 mph.
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And a tropical wave is expected to move off the west coast of Africa by the end of the weekend.
Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for gradual development, and a tropical depression could form by the middle of next week while the system moves west at 10 to 15 mph over the far eastern tropical Atlantic.
The NHC says it has a 50% chance of developing over the next five days.
The next named storms will be Victor and Wanda.