Tropical Storm Humberto Update: System Could be First Hurricane of Season

By Myles Collier, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Forecasters are keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Humberto. It is continuing to gain strength as it moves further off the West African coast, with meteorologists expecting it to become the first named hurricane of the season.

The storm is currently more than 3,000 miles from the U.S. coast and is starting to track away from the Cape Verde Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center

The storm's maximum sustained winds late Monday were near 50 mph. The storm is centered about 95 miles southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and is moving west near 13 mph.

So far this season, no hurricanes have formed in the Atlantic basin, which includes the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

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. If Humberto doesn't develop into a hurricane until after 8 a.m. ET on Wednesday, it will set the new record for latest "first" hurricane.

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.