By: Staff Writer
October 1, 2021
As Hurricane Sam blew past the Leeward Islands, leaving only rough surf in its wake, Tropical Storm Victor is brewing.
The National Hurricane Centre is tracking three systems in the Atlantic: Hurricane Sam, Tropical Storm Victor and a disturbance that has a very low chance for development.
Hurricane Sam grew stronger overnight as forecasted, with winds increasing to 145 mph. It’s expected to grow even stronger, with winds forecast to reach 150 mph within the next 12 hours.
Sam is now a powerful Category 4 hurricane.
In a tweet, the NHC said that Hurricane Sam remains a powerful category 4 hurricane over the central Atlantic. The storm is forecast to cause large swells and high surf across portions of the Caribbean and U.S.
Sam has maintained its major hurricane force, meaning a cyclone of Category 3 strength or greater, since 11am EST on September 25, while churning over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. AccuWeather meteorologists believe that Sam could remain a powerful major hurricane into this weekend as it passes a couple hundred miles to the east of Bermuda. And in doing so, it could make a run at the top-five list for long-duration major hurricanes in the basin.
Tropical Storm Victor on the other hand, gathered strength Thursday morning too and is expected to get stronger this weekend, as Hurricane Sam maintains its major storm status in the mid-Atlantic and is expected to march east of Bermuda.
So far, the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season with 20 named systems is the third most active behind 2020′s record year and 2005.
The last name on the list is Wanda, and then the NHC will begin using a new set of alphabetical names chosen for busy hurricane seasons. Only 2005 and 2020 had to venture beyond the initial list, but the storm names were given Greek letters such as Tropical Storm Alpha in previous years. Confusion in similar-sounding Greek letters, such as Eta and Theta, though, led to the shift.
If 2021 reaches the new alphabet, the first named storm will be Adria.