ORLANDO, Fla. – Nigel is the fourteenth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and the fifteenth tropical cyclone to reach tropical storm status.
Saturday afternoon, Nigel was still Tropical Depression 15, meandering over the open Atlantic and showing signs of organization.
Late Saturday night, maximum sustained winds of 40 mph were found, upgrading Tropical Depression 15 to a tropical storm and getting the name Nigel.
According to the newest information from the National Hurricane Center, as of 11 a.m. Sunday, Nigel was moving north-northwest at 13 mph with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.
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The projected path shows that Nigel will not directly impact land and will likely stay over the open water, continuing to strengthen in the next several days.
A favorable environment should allow Nigel to continue to strengthen in the coming days into a hurricane Monday and then a major Category 3 hurricane on Tuesday.
The official forecast keeps Nigel just shy of Category 3 hurricane strength, but forecasters suggest Nigel will have a small window to become stronger than expected while staying well east of Bermuda.
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