Hurricane Sam still at Category 4 strength; 2 tropical depressions could form this week

Robin Webb, Steve Svekis and Austen Erblat, South Florida Sun Sentinel
·2 min read

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Hurricane Sam, a Category 4 with maximum winds of 150 mph, is expected to slowly weaken over the next couple of days, while remaining a major hurricane, forecasters said Sunday.

Sam’s intensity is expected to drop as it encounters storm-shredding wind shear this week, but it’s expected to remain a major hurricane, meaning a Category 3 or above, for at least the next five days, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Sam is due to take a turn to the northwest by Monday and maintain that path through midweek, which would turn it away from Florida and the Caribbean.

As of 5 p.m. EDT Sunday, Sam was about 880 miles east-southeast of the Leeward Islands, moving northwest at 7 mph.

Sam, the fourth major hurricane of 2021 underwent rapid intensification Saturday, quickly going from a Category 2 hurricane early Saturday with 110 mph winds to a Category 4 hurricane.

Sam’s hurricane-force-winds extended 30 miles from its center on Sunday.

Tropical Storm Teresa, the second-earliest 19th named storm to form in the Atlantic basin, was short-lived, dissipating by 2 a.m. Sunday.

Experts are monitoring several other areas for potential development.

Forecasters said Sunday that two tropical depressions could form in the next five days in the far eastern Atlantic, one from a tropical wave expected to roll off Africa’s west coast by Monday and the other from an area of low pressure just to its west.

Lastly, there’s a slight chance that the remnants of Tropical Storm Peter could develop into a system southeast of Bermuda, according to experts.

The remaining storm names for the 2021 season are Victor and Wanda.

Should we run out of storm names, late-season storms will no longer carry baffling Greek names like Zeta and Theta that were used last year. Experts have opted to use an overflow list of proper names instead. The list includes Adria, Braylen, Caridad, Deshawn, Emery, Foster, Gemma and Heath.

So far in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30, there have been 19 named storms, seven hurricanes and four major hurricanes.