- The Category 1 hurricane should make its closest approach to the tiny island nation on Thursday night.
- Ocean swells from the storm are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
- Epsilon is the 26th named storm of 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.
Hurricane Epsilon, the 10th hurricane of an extremely active Atlantic season, is forecast to move near Bermuda over the next couple of days, the National Hurricane Center said.
The Category 1 hurricane should make its closest approach to the tiny island nation Thursday night.
Even if the center of the hurricane does not hit Bermuda, its outer winds are expected to affect the island, as tropical-storm-force winds extend as many as 435 miles out from the center of the hurricane. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Bermuda, and residents have been urged to closely monitor the storm.Â
“Tropical storm conditions are expected on Bermuda beginning later today and continuing intermittently through late Thursday,” the Hurricane Center said.
More:‘Crazy’ 2020 hurricane season matches 2005 in activity, but not storm intensity
In addition to the winds, large ocean swells generated by Epsilon are already affecting Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and the Leeward Islands, and they are expected to reach portions of the U.S. East Coast and Atlantic Canada during the next couple of days. Â
“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the Hurricane Center warned.
Epsilon had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph as of 11 a.m. Wednesday. The storm was about 405 miles east-southeast of Bermuda, and it was moving west-northwest at 12 mph.
Epsilon is the 26th named storm of 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Its formation brought the season even closer to the record of 28 named storms set in 2005 – the only other year to use the Greek alphabet to name storms, AccuWeather said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
