Hurricane Danny strengthens a little in the Atlantic

This morning NHC reported that Danny wouldn’t be a hurricane until Friday.

Tropical storms Ana, Bill and Claudette formed earlier in the year but never reached hurricane strength.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 50 miles per hour (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Forecasters will monitor this system as it moves west at 15-20 miles per hour. As of Thursday morning, there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect as the hurricane poses no immediate threat to land.

The Atlantic just got its first hurricane of the season. The dry air is robbing the storm of moisture it would need to rapidly intensify.

Dry air and wind shear look to be big problems for Danny over the next several days.

Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida and south-central Louisiana in August 1992 with 175-mph winds, wiping out entire communities, killing 23 people and causing more than $25 billion in damage. Computer models and forecasters are divided whether it will track into the Caribbean Sea or move north toward the Bahamas next week, and are unsure how strong it will be.

Yet another factor may come into play IF Danny survives across the Caribbean.

The latest Hurricane Danny Projected Path update was given moments ago tonight by the National Hurricane Center.

There are two other areas of concern in the Atlantic.

There has not been any significant change to the track of the storm and models are still in good agreement that it will arrive in the northern Lesser Antilles early on Monday.

The feature near Bermuda may slowly form beneath a storm in the upper atmosphere.

During El Nino, the number of named tropical systems in the Atlantic basin tends to be lower than average.

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.