Tropical Storm Epsilon strengthens in central Atlantic

Additional strengthening was expected and Epsilon was forecast to be at or near hurricane strength by early Thursday, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical Storm Epsilon strengthened Monday morning in the central Atlantic, the latest in what has been a very active hurricane season.

The storm was centered Monday afternoon about 730 miles (1,180 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda and was stationary. (AP file photo. Representative image)

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph), up slightly from when it formed hours earlier. Additional strengthening was expected and Epsilon was forecast to be at or near hurricane strength by early Thursday, the US National Hurricane Center said.

The storm was centered Monday afternoon about 730 miles (1,180 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda and was stationary. A slow northward motion is expected during the night, forecasters said, adding the storm was then expected to take a more northwestward track as it approaches Bermuda by Thursday.

This year’s hurricane season has had so many storms that the Hurricane Center has turned to the Greek alphabet for storm names after running out of official names.

Epsilon also represents a record for the earliest 26th named storm, beating out Nov. 22 in 2005, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.