ORLANDO, Fla. – What has been an extremely quiet start to the 2022 hurricane season is now suddenly active.
Hurricane Earl continues to strengthen in the Central Atlantic as it moves closer to Bermuda. While the center of the storm will likely miss the island, hurricane force-wind gusts will be possible Thursday into Friday. The storm is expected to intensify into a Category 4 storm as it moves away from Bermuda and into the North Atlantic.
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Earl has maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.
Danielle is now no longer tropical in nature, officially becoming post-tropical. The storm could impact Europe as a post-tropical cyclone late this weekend or early next week.
Danielle became the highest ACE-generating storm for a tropical system that far north in the Atlantic Ocean. ACE stands for accumulated cyclone energy, and is a metric that takes into account storm duration and intensity.
Elsewhere, a tropical wave about 1,000 miles northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands has a high chance of development. Environmental conditions are only marginally conducive, however. A short-lived tropical depression or storm is possible over the next 24 hours. This entity will not impact land.
Closer to the Cabo Verde Islands is another tropical wave that currently has a low chance for development over the next five days. Gradual development is possible beyond the five-day period as the disturbance moves into a more conducive area.
The next named storm will be Fiona.
Hurricane season ends Dec. 1.