ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The season's first hurricane is continuing to meander in the north-central Atlantic as it produces a large area of dangerous seas, the National Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane Danielle currently has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and has sped up some as it moves northeast at 14 mph. Slow weakening of the storm is expected over the next few days. There is no threat to land, including the United States, at this time.
Danielle strengthened from a tropical storm Friday, according to the NHC. And even after weakening back into a tropical storm, Danielle has once again strengthened into a hurricane.
As Danielle continues to move into early next week, it will remain generally over the north-central Atlantic. As it heads north it will move over colder water causing Danielle to further weaken later this week.
The system held off developing in August, which gave us the first storm-free August in 25 years. It was also the second-longest period in recorded history we went without a named storm, with 60 days separating us from the last-named storm.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, we also have Hurricane Earl that formed just east of the northern Leeward Islands late last week on Friday night. It is forecast to possibly bring tropical-storm-force winds to Bermuda later this week. Thankfully, there is no threat to Florida.
While we don't have a storm to worry about right now in Florida, it's always a good idea to make sure you're up-to-date with your hurricane plan and are prepared. 10 Tampa Bay is your Hurricane Headquarters, and you can get all the information you need about hurricane season here.