Igor gaining hurricane speeds - Photo National Weather Service NOAA
Igor upgraded to a tropical storm. Igor had weakened to a tropical depression and drifted back towards the coast of Africa outside the Cape Verde Islands.
On Thursday the sustained winds reached their maximum at 35 mph. Performing precisely as the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted, Igor strengthened on Friday. In an advisory issued by the center, wind speeds increased elevating Igor once again to tropical storm status.
The storm’s path is still unclear. At the time of the advisory, Igor’s top winds were about 40 miles per hour and were centered approximately 465 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. Though the storm has regained strength, it is only moving about 16 miles per hour.
According to Accuweather, Igor will not be a threat to land masses for at least five days. The storm will turn in one of two directions; Antilles is an option or Igor can turn northward and head for the East Coast of the United States. Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County said, “From there, it’s far too soon to predict Igor’s fate,” the storm is still to far out at sea to map a definite path.
Igor is tropical storm number nine of this hurricane season. The two storms prior to Igor were Hermine and Gaston. Although Gaston was inhibited by dry air from gaining hurricane status, Hermine was upgraded to hurricane. Hermine pounded parts of Mexico and Texas over several days, creating devastating flash floods.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted for an above normal tropical storm season. The forecast released in August expects between 14 and 20 named tropical storms this season. Hurricane season begins on June 1 and peaks from August through October.