Danny Morphs Into Atlantic’s First 2015 Hurricane

“Danny strengthens into the first hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season”, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said.

The system became a tropical depression on Tuesday morning, a tropical storm on Tuesday afternoon then a hurricane Thursday.

While Danny is expected to strengthen over the coming days, forecasters note that it is a very small storm.

The storm so far has not caused an increase in business, operations manager Kim Leverenz said, but they’re ready should Danny get closer. El Niño – which tends to create strong wind shear that can tear Atlantic tropical storms apart – has conspired to put a damper on the Atlantic hurricane season to date.

“We are uncertain if Danny will become a major concern”, said Kevin Davis, director of GOHSEP. Maximum sustained winds are 50 MPH.

Hurricane Danny is located about 970 miles east of the Windward Islands.

The Hurricane Hunters are planning to fly into the storm on Friday to gather more precise data on the storm to help create more accurate forecasts on it. Current projections indicate the tropical storm could impact The Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico or Hispanola (The Dominican Republic and Haiti).

Last week, The Tribune was told by international weather experts that if newly updated weather projections hold true, this year’s Atlantic hurricane season could be the least active since 1997.

The official National Hurricane Center forecast has trended a little weaker. Some additional strengthening during the next 48 hours is forecast, according to forecasters, followed by slight weakening as Danny encounters high shear and dry air in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The National hurricane center now gives this a good chance of becoming a tropical system over the next several days.