Danielle becomes first hurricane of Atlantic season

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The fourth named storm has become the first hurricane of the 2022 season.

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Hurricane Danielle reached sustained wind speeds of 75 miles per hour on Friday and is expected to strengthen over the next couple of days.

“Absolutely no threat to any land areas and we don’t expect it to be down the road,” Live 5 Meteorologist Joey Sovine said.

The storm is centered around 885 miles west of the Azores and moving west near 1 mph. The National Hurricane Center said the storm is expected to meander over the open Atlantic for the next few days before slowly turning northeast.

Forecasters are still watching two other areas of development in the Atlantic.

Of the two areas, an area located several hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands is showing increased shower and thunderstorm activity.

Forecasters say there is a 50% chance of it developing into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours, and say the chances increase to 70% over the next five days.

Sovine says computer models show the storm moving northwest before curving out to sea.

The second system is in the eastern tropical Atlantic northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. Forecasters say shower activity associated with a broad area of low pressure has increased slightly from Wednesday but the system is moving into an area of less favorable conditions.

Forecasters say there is a 10% chance of development in the next 48 hours, and say those chances remain the same over the next five days.

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