Tropical Storm Epsilon may become a hurricane near Bermuda

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Epsilon is expected to be at or near hurricane strength as it gets closer to Bermuda by Thursday morning.

It is still too early to tell what Epsilon’s track and intensity will be once it’s near the island but the U.S. National Hurricane Center said there is a risk of direct impact.

A tropical storm watch is in effect for Bermuda and residents should closely monitor the storm.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, Tuesday afternoon but additional strengthening is expected. It was located about 675 miles (1,085 kilometers) east-southeast of Bermuda and was moving north-northwest at 12 mph.

This year’s hurricane season has had so many storms that the Hurricane Center has turned to the Greek alphabet for storm names after running out of official names.

Epsilon also represents a record for the earliest 26th named storm, beating out Nov. 22 in 2005, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.