FLORIDA — Hurricane Earl failed to gain strength during the afternoon Thursday, stalling with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph as remaining a category 2 storm, weather forecasters said.
The 8 p.m. briefing from the National Hurricane Center said, "Earl's intensification trend from last night took an unexpected halt this morning."
Swells generated by Earl are building near Bermuda and are expected to reach the U.S. East Coast Thursday night. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions through the weekend, the NHC said.
The storm was located about 120 miles southeast of Bermuda at 8 p.m. and headed north-northeast at 16 mph.
“Earl is going to pass more than 800 miles east of the coast of North Carolina. However, hurricanes that are the size and strength of Earl can send swells outward over 1,000 miles from the storm,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Michael Doll said. “Swells from Earl, combined with an onshore wind, are expected to create rough surf and dangerous rip currents through the weekend.”
The Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale says winds for a category 2 storm range from 96 to 110 mph. A category 3 hurricane, which the NHC calls a major storm, packs wind speeds of 111 to 129 mph.
Early on Thursday, the NHC said Earl was likely to keep gaining strength and become a major category 3 hurricane later in the day. It could top out as a category 4 storm with winds of 130 to 156 mph that will be powerful enough for some impacts to be felt as far away as the U.S. East Coast, AccuWeather said before the storm stalled its growth.
Bermuda is under a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning as Earl moves closer.
The hurricane is expected to pass to the south of Bermuda by Friday morning and then continue moving northeast away from the U.S. coastline.Hurricane Earl is one of three Atlantic storms that the National Hurricane Center is monitoring.
In the meantime, Hurricane Danielle, which developed late last week, has been stirring up the waters in the central-north Atlantic, producing large waves. But, forecasts now say the season's first hurricane could affect western Europe.
Forecasters say parts of Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom will need to remain on alert for possible impacts from Danielle from Sunday into the early week, AccuWeather reported.
Earl is the second hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, and is expected to be the first major hurricane.
Forecasters at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center predicted an active 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and continues through Nov. 30.
According to this year's forecast, the ongoing La Niña, in addition to above-average ocean temperatures, means there's a 65 percent chance the 2022 hurricane season will be above normal.
For the 2022 season, forecasters are predicting 14 to 21 named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher. Of those, anywhere from six to 10 of the storms could become hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher.
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