Even as the current hurricane season is supposed to be winding down, it is still breaking records.
The National Hurricane Center named Tropical Storm Epsilon in the central Atlantic after it gathered strength Monday morning.
It had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, was located 735 miles southeast of Bermuda and was stationary. Over the next few days, it is expected to strengthen into a hurricane and could threaten Bermuda by the end of the week.
While Epsilon poses little threat to land at this time, it's making headlines because of its name. When named, it became the earliest 26th named storm on record, beating the previous record set on November 22nd, 2005. It joined the club of 22 other storms this season that broke that same record for record earliest of its rank; a testament to the blistering pace of this relentless hurricane season.
The season is now just one named storm away from tying the infamous and hyperactive 2005 season which made it as far as Zeta. Beyond Zeta, it's all uncharted territory as never on record has an Atlantic hurricane season had to dip so deep into the Greek Alphabet for naming storms.
And Epsilon isn't the only game in town.
The National Hurricane Center has also tagged an area to watch in the southern Caribbean Sea that has a zero percent chance of development in 2 days and a 20 percent chance in five days. Gradual development is possible through the week as it moves into the northwest Caribbean Sea. The latest model guidance is not very bullish in developing this system, but meteorologists will still keep their eyes on it.
Epsilon and the area to watch in the Caribbean are reminders that the official Atlantic hurricane season doesn't end until November 30, and tropical cyclones can form even later than that. In 2005, Zeta formed in late December.
