Hurricane Danny, Year's First, Now Starting to Draw Attention

Hurricane Danny is the first Atlantic cyclone of the season, and strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 1 on Thursday morning.

Weather.com reported that Danny remains just under a thousand miles from the Caribbean, moving west northwest at roughly 10 mph.

Its maximum sustained winds topped 85 mph, and hurricane force winds extended only 10 miles from the eye of the tropical cyclone. Storm-force winds extended 60 miles from the center.

Dry air situated north of the cyclone's expected path is likely to hamper the intensity of the storm with strong thunderstorm downdrafts. Danny is expected to reach the Leeward Islands on Monday, and could bring much needed rain to the Puerto Rican drought and Virgin Islands.

It is not expected to put any human lives in danger, however those in the eastern Caribbean were advised to monitor the storm's development.

"The track forecast contains quite a bit of uncertainty. The two leading global models, the European ECMWF model and the U.S. GFS model, do not agree on Danny’s future," noted The Washington Post.

Before becoming a hurricane, Tropical Storm Danny was located and identified on Wednesday, roughly 1,500 miles east of the Windward Islands.

Hurricane experts earlier this month predicted the season will spawn six to 10 named storms, and one to four hurricanes. Tropical storms Ana, Bill, and Claudette all preceded Danny this season in the Atlantic.

Since the 2011 season, Gonzalo (2014), Humberto (2013) and Katia (2011) are the only storms to become full-fledged hurricanes in the region between west Africa to the Lesser Antilles.

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