Tropical Storm Sam has strengthened into a hurricane on the warm waters of the open Atlantic Ocean, meteorologists at the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) are confirming on Friday morning (September 24).

The NHC, in a 5:00 am Atlantic Standard Time (AST) bulletin, is sticking by its forecasts of rapid intensification for Hurricane Sam in the coming hours, which could reach category three status as early as Friday night or Saturday morning.

“Rapid intensification is forecast to continue, and Sam is likely to become a major hurricane tonight or early Saturday,” the hurricane watchdog advised.

As at 5:00 am AST, the centre of Hurricane Sam was located near latitude 11.5 North, longitude 42.2 West—or roughly 2,365 kilometres east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands.

Sam, a compact category one hurricane, is moving west at 24 kilometres/hour and packs maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts.

NCH sleuths further indicated that hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 kilometres from Sam’s centre, while tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 95 kilometres.

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect for islands in the Caribbean at this time. For its part, the Jamaica Meteorological Service has stated that while it continues to monitor the progress of Hurricane Sam, the system poses no direct threat to the island.

Sam is the 18th named storm of the 2021 North Atlantic Hurricane Season and is poised to become the fourth major hurricane of the year behind Grace, Ida and Larry.