Tropical Storm Sam, the 18th named storm of the 2021 North Atlantic Season, has formed and is expected to continue to strengthen on Thursday (September 23).

According to an 11:00 am Atlantic Standard Time (AST) bulletin from the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC), conditions are ‘ripe’ for Sam to reach hurricane status by as early as Friday.

“Additional strengthening is forecast over the next several days, and Sam is now forecast to become a hurricane tomorrow and be near major hurricane intensity by the end of the weekend,” the NHC advised.

As at 11:00 am AST, the centre of Tropical Storm Sam was located near latitude 10.9 North, longitude 38.1 West—or roughly 2,805 kilometres east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands.

The system is moving west at a brisk 26 kilometres/hour and now packs maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts.

While there are no coastal warnings or watches currently in effect, the NHC further indicated that tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 75 kilometres from Sam’s centre.

According to lead meteorologist at the Colorado State University (CSU), Philip Klotzbach, it is the second time since last year that the hurricane season has spawned 18 or more named storms at or around September 23.

The 2021 hurricane season, with 18 named storms so far, is only eclipsed by the 2020 season’s 23 named storms at this time.

See related article: New potential cyclone set to emerge as tropical depression forms over open Atlantic