Humberto: Hurricane Becomes First of 2013 Season, Expected to Strengthen
Tropical Storm Humberto was the first named storm to be officially classified as a hurricane in 2013, but as the storm moves across the eastern Atlantic, it is not expected to pose a threat to land in the coming days, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters revealed that the hurricane was about 310 miles northwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands with top winds of 75 miles per hour, the NHC said.
Humberto is expected to increase in strength in the coming days and also increase speed as it continues to track west.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
AccuWeather reports that the year with the latest "first" hurricane was 2002, when Hurricane Gustav was the first to form, on Sept. 11 of that year. By reaching hurricane status before 8 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Humberto did not replacing Gustav as the latest forming hurricane, NHC revealed.
Humberto was the eighth tropical storm of the Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 and historically peaks on September 10, and the first this year to reach hurricane strength.
According to NHC, the hurricane season in the Atlantic starts June 1 and ends five months later on Nov. 30. For the Eastern Pacific, hurricane season lasts longer, beginning on May 15 and ends six months after on Nov. 30 as well.
This year has been particular quite for the Western pacific in terms of named storms, but it has been a relatively active season in the Eastern Pacific, with 10 named storms so far this season. On average, there are only three Eastern Pacific hurricanes by the first week of August, with hurricane season running until Nov. 1.
