Hurricane Sam becomes major hurricane, forecasted to continue growing
Hurricane Sam gained strength and became a major hurricane on Saturday and will continue to grow for the remainder of the weekend, meteorologists said.
As of 11 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Sam, “a small but dangerous” storm was located over 2,000 miles southeast of Miami, moving in a west-northwesterly direction at 10 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
Within 24 hours, Sam went from a tropical depression to a hurricane. It now stands as a Category 4 storm with winds sustaining at 140 mph.
Sam, the 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and seventh hurricane, can potentially turn west towards the U.S. mainland in the early parts of October, AccuWeather forecasters said.
Last year, the Atlantic season yielded a record 18 storms by Sept. 23, USA Today reported.
A major hurricanes are categorized as hurricane that are Category 3 storms or higher. This year, there have been three other major hurricanes: Grace, Ida, and Larry.
The Atlantic hurricane season concludes in November but meteorologists are currently tracking an additional three systems that are forming now that could pose a threat to become tropical storms or hurricanes.
