NU Online News Service, Aug. 26, 11:58 a.m. EDT
"Tropical Depression Seven" has become Tropical Storm Earl, and the system is expected to become this season's third Atlantic hurricane by early Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Guy Carpenter's Instrat unit said it is unknown yet whether the storm is a threat to hit the U.S. East Coast in the future. The storm is no immediate threat to land, however, as it is currently located about 1,735 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.
Tim Doggett, principal scientist at catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide, said, "The NHC expects Earl to pass approximately 300 miles northeast of the Leeward Islands on Monday morning at Category 2 strength. However, because Earl is still in its formative stages, there is considerable uncertainty with regards to its track."
The NHC said the storm is moving west across the Atlantic at 17 miles per hour. The NHC forecast calls for Earl to become a hurricane in two days, and a Category 2 hurricane by day five.
Maximum sustained winds are near 45 miles per hour.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, the NHC said Hurricane Danielle is currently a Category 2 hurricane, and could become a major hurricane by tonight or Friday. But the storm, currently about 630 miles northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands, is expected to turn to the northeast and not threaten land.
Earlier this morning, the NHC recommended that interests in Bermuda keep an eye on Hurricane Danielle, but that language did not appear in the NHC's 11:00 a.m. EDT update.
According to AIR, "On its current projected path, Danielle is forecast to pass approximately 250 miles east of Bermuda on Sunday morning as a Category 3 hurricane before curving north-northeast. However, the NHC's cone of uncertainty, representing 60-70 percent confidence in the forecast track, extends to within 100 miles of Bermuda. The Bermuda Weather Service has issued a small craft warning for large waves up to nine feet," starting tomorrow evening.
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