NU Online News Service, Oct. 8, 1:47 p.m. EDT
The fifteenth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season remains on course away from the United States and is headed toward Portugal's Azores Islands as it became a hurricane today.
Hurricane Otto is located more than 700 miles south of Bermuda as of Friday, according to modeler Risk Management Solutions (RMS).
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded the storm to Category 1 hurricane status late this morning, with sustained winds near 75 mph and higher gusts.
Because wind shear that breaks up storm formations is low, Otto is expected to increase in strength during the day, possibly reaching Category 2 (sustained winds of 96 mph to 110 mph) before beginning to weaken late Saturday.
According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, the storm is expected to continue to curve to the Northeast, away from Bermuda and the U.S. coast. Otto is the seventh hurricane of the active 2010 season, which is not over yet. On average, about six hurricanes are expected in an Atlantic hurricane season.
Models predict the storm is headed toward the Azores Islands, about 930 miles west of Portugal, but it could be downgraded to tropical storm status by that point on Monday, according to the NHC.
Though the 2010 hurricane season has been active, the United States has dodged a major landfall. There have been 15 named storms this year, of which seven became hurricanes. Five were classified as major hurricanes (at least Category 3 with sustain winds of at least 111 mph and higher).
RMS said that, based on past experience, one or two named storms form in October, of which one becomes a hurricane. The modeler said sea surface temperatures remain high and wind shear is low. These factors could point to a more active October, the modeler noted.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.