ORLANDO, Fla. – Epsilon developed into a Hurricane on Thursday night.
Epsilon goes Cat 1! Still not a threat to anything but the fish. pic.twitter.com/UfjkCWJszM
— Tom Sorrells (@tomsorrells) October 21, 2020
It is still too early to tell what Epsilon’s track and intensity will be once it’s near the island, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center said there is a risk of direct impact and Bermuda residents should closely monitor the storm.
The storm continues to pack maximum sustained winds of 45 mph early Tuesday, but additional strengthening is expected.
This year’s hurricane season has had so many storms that the Hurricane Center has turned to the Greek alphabet for storm names after running out of official names.
Epsilon also represents a record for the earliest 26th named storm, beating out Nov. 22 in 2005, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Meanwhile, a trough of low pressure extends southeast from the southeastern Gulf of Mexico across the northwestern Caribbean Sea to a broad low pressure system located over the southwestern Caribbean Sea.
This system is currently accompanied by disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity.
The disturbance is expected to consolidate over the northwestern Caribbean Sea during the next day or so before moving slowly west, toward the Yucatan Peninsula by Wednesday.
Regardless of development, the system could bring locally heavy rainfall to portions of central and western Cuba, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the Yucatan Peninsula through midweek. It’s not known if it will have any direct impact on Florida.
The system currently has a 10% chance of developing tropical characteristics.