Tropical Storm Danielle Expected To Become Season's 1st Hurricane

FLORIDA — The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it's monitoring Tropical Storm Danielle, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean Thursday afternoon and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane in two days.

The hurricane center, however, said Danielle does not pose any direct threat to land at this time.

On Thursday morning, the hurricane center updated the weather disturbance to Tropical Depression 5. Then, during its 3 p.m. update, declared it a tropical storm when its maximum sustained winds strengthened considerably Thursday afternoon from 40 mph to 60 mph.

A tropical depression becomes a named tropical storm when maximum sustained winds reach 39 to 73 mph.

The center said satellite data indicates Danielle is strengthening quickly, with tropical storm-force winds extending up to 35 miles from the center.

The storm is 960 miles west of The Azores, an island chain that is 3,745 miles east of the United States.

"Danielle is likely to continue strengthening through the end of the week and is expected to become the first hurricane in the Atlantic Basin this season," said AccuWeather meteorologist Rob Richards.

Forecasters anticipate that Danielle could reach Category 1 hurricane strength with sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph by Saturday morning due to warm waters and a light wind shear in the region.

However, she may never make land. Danielle is moving east at a leisurely 2 mph and is expected to circle around the same area of the North Atlantic basin through the weekend.

Danielle is the fourth named storm of the 2022 hurricane season, which has been uneventful so far. The last tropical storm, Colin, dissipated on July 3.

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Forecasters at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center on said in their annual prediction for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and continues through Nov. 30, that the season should be active.

According to this year's forecast, the ongoing La Niña, in addition to above-average ocean temperatures, means there's a 65 percent chance the 2022 hurricane season will be above normal.

For the 2022 season, forecasters are predicting 14 to 21 named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, anywhere from six to 10 of the storms could become hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher.

This year's season could also spawn anywhere from three to six major hurricanes rated a category 3 or higher, forecasters said.