Tracking The Tropics: Hurricane Sam Rapidly Strengthening In Atlantic
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Tropical Storm Sam strengthened overnight and became the 7th hurricane of the season on Friday morning.
Sam was located about 1,470 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands and was moving west at 15 miles per hour. Sam is forecast to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane Friday night or Saturday.
Sam is expected to become a dangerous and powerful Category 4 Hurricane this weekend. High pressure is forecast to steer Sam towards the west-northwest across the Atlantic. By the middle of next week, the ridge is forecast to slide eastward as a trough moves over the western Atlantic. In response, the hurricane will likely turn northwestward as it approaches the northern Leeward Islands
Elsewhere in the Tropics, a gale-force, non-tropical low-pressure system, the remnants of Odette, was located a little more than 600 miles west-northwest of the westernmost Azores. The National Hurricane Center says this disturbance has a medium potential for development. Showers and thunderstorms remain limited near the low, and this system has only a brief window of opportunity to become a subtropical or tropical cyclone while it moves generally south-southeastward over marginally warmer waters. Strong upper-level winds are expected to develop over the system by late today, which should then limit further development.
A disturbance centered a couple of hundred miles east of Bermuda is associated with a surface and upper-level trough has a low potential of cyclone development. Some tropical or subtropical development of this system could occur through early Saturday as it moves generally north-northwestward. After that time, development is not expected due to strong upper-level winds.
And a tropical wave is expected to move off the west coast of Africa by the end of this weekend. The National Hurricane Center said this wave has a medium potential for cyclone development.
Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for gradual development, and a tropical depression could form by the middle of next week while the system moves westward at 10 to 15 mph over the far eastern tropical Atlantic.
