Tropical Storm Epsilon is now Hurricane Epsilon, the National Hurricane Center announced Tuesday night.
The storm is not expected to pose a threat to Florida or the eastern seaboard, however, and should continue turning into the northern Atlantic.
Epsilon was about 545 miles east-southeast of Bermuda, according to the 11 p.m. Tuesday advisory. It was moving at 13 mph and generating maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
A Category 1 hurricane is one throwing off maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or greater.
Bermuda’s government issued a tropical storm watch to its residents on Tuesday. It may feel some effects from the storm later this week, the hurricane center said.
By Wednesday a mid-level high pressure system is expected to have the storm moving west-northwestward. The forecast is also expected to shift east in the coming days and forecasters expect Epsilon to pass east of Bermuda. The storm’s center will approach the island within the next two days.
Epsilon is the 26th named storm of this historically active hurricane season. It is second behind the historically active and destructive 2005 storm season, which finished the calendar year with 27 storms, including one in November and December.
In 2005 there were a record 15 hurricanes and seven major hurricanes. That is any storm Category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which means it generates wind speeds exceeding 111 mph.
Epsilon is the 10th hurricane to form this year. There have been three major hurricanes in 2020.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, the hurricane center said a low-pressure system in the southwestern Caribbean Sea near Central America has a 10 percent chance of forming in the next five days or so. Though unlikely to develop because of upper-level winds, the system would be named Zeta if it were to start generating sustained winds of at least 40 mph.
As for Tampa Bay, Spectrum Bay News 9 Meteorologist Mike Clay said the weather will be far from ideal for the rest of the week. The region will continue to see above-average temperatures for this time of year with no cold front in sight. And the chance of rain will remain high through the weekend.
“No signs of any cold fronts coming our way,” Clay said. “That’s going to last into next week, even though there is some colder air coming to other parts of the country.”
Bay News 9′s forecast gives Wednesday a 50 percent chance of rain with a high of 85. Thursday will be similar, with a high of 88 and a 50 percent chance of rain.
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2020 Tampa Bay Times Hurricane Guide
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