Hurricane Fred blasts Cape Verde Islands, not expected to threaten US
Fred became the second hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic season and will blast the Cape Verde Islands through early this week.
An area of low pressure off the coast of Africa became Tropical Storm Fred early Sunday morning.
While the moisture from once-Tropical Storm Erika moves across the southeastern United States,Fred will march across the Cape Verde Islands into Tuesday.
According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Michael Doll, "This system was a rather strong tropical wave as it moved off the coast of Africa on Saturday."
According to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski, Fred is the farthest east a hurricane has formed on record in the Atlantic Ocean.
"Fred is only the third known hurricane to impact the Cape Verde Islands," Kottlowski said.
The main impacts across the islands will be damaging winds, flooding rain and rough seas.
Several inches of rain will be possible and this could trigger mudslides across the mountainous islands. With Fred expected to track over the islands, wind gusts will have the potential to down trees and power lines, which will result in extended periods without power.
After passing through the the Cape Verde Islands, Fred will track across the open waters of the Atlantic during the middle and latter part of this week.
A combination of wind shear and dry air may prevent this system from further intensification and will gradually cause the system to weaken.
According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Duffey, "Fred will be brought quickly into less favorable conditions for strengthening, with the main factor against the cyclone being dry air."
This storm is not expected to bring any impacts to the United States.
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AccuWeather Hurricane Center
"Outside of the Cape Verde Islands, which will see torrential showers and thunderstorms along with a few strong wind gusts, the system is not expected to impact any landmasses," Duffey said.
Fred is the only tropical system in the Atlantic basin outside of leftover moisture from Erika. There are currently three hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific; Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena.
See photos from Tropical Storm Erika:
