Hurricane Fred Sets Records

Hurricane Fred became the second named hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic storm season but is going to be remembered for some unusual records.

The storm is the easternmost hurricane ever to form in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.  It brought the very first hurricane warning for the Cape Verde Islands and is the first hurricane that can be captured in the region by weather satellites.

“According to the official Atlantic tropical cyclone record, which begins in 1851, Fred is the first hurricane to pass through the Cape Verde Islands since 1892. We caution, however, that the database is less reliable prior to the satellite era (mid 1960s onward),” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

While 10 hurricanes have been in the area of Cape Verde, Fred is the first that will hit Cape Verde while still a hurricane.  The peak winds for the storm were 85 m.p.h. on Monday morning.

The storm is expected to strengthen for a few days but will dissipate in the open ocean before reaching any other land mass.

Forecasters say that overall activity for this storm season is below average because of the strong El Nino.