Sept. 27 (UPI) — Hurricane Sam has gained more strength in the central Atlantic Ocean and is expected to remain a major hurricane for several days — although it’s presently not considered an imminent threat to large populations anywhere.
Sam strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.
In its 5 a.m. EDT update Monday, the NHC said Sam was located 800 miles southeast of the Northern Leeward Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. It was moving northwest at 8 mph.
A storm reaches Category 4 strength when its winds reach 130 mph. Sam would become a Category 5 storm if wind speeds reached 157 mph.
Sam formed as a tropical storm last week and has only gained strength as it’s moved to the west. At one point, it appeared that the storm could possibly take a track to the U.S. Southeast, but projections now show that it’s expected to turn in a northerly direction and miss the United States.
It could, however, impact Bermuda late this week.
Although it is a Category 4 storm, forecasters say Sam is a small hurricane.
The NHC said a hurricane hunter aircraft will fly into the storm later Monday to gather more data.
Sam is the 18th named storm and the seventh hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. A year ago, the “s” named storm, Sally, formed on Sept. 12.