Season's 1st Hurricane Forms, Barely Misses Record

Hurricane Humberto is late—but not quite late enough for the history books
By Ruth Brown,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 11, 2013 9:28 AM CDT
Season's 1st Hurricane Forms, Barely Misses Record
This satellite image made available by NOAA shows Humberto off the coast of west Africa.   (AP Photo/NOAA)

Had Hurricane Humberto—the first hurricane of the Atlantic season—hit just about three hours later, it would have set a new record for the latest first hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean. Alas, Humberto's dreams of meteorological infamy were dashed when its winds reached a sustained 75mph around 5am ET, making it just another hurricane, reports CNN.

It won't even have the chance to do much damage—it's currently about 310 miles off West Africa's Cape Verde Islands, and is expected to turn into a piddling tropical storm over the weekend. The record holder continues to be 2002's Hurricane Gustav, which was named a bit after 8am on Sept. 11 of that year, reports AccuWeather. The year's first hurricane is generally named by Aug. 10, notes the Miami Herald. Hurricane season wraps up Nov. 30; three to six major hurricanes have been predicted. (More hurricane stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X