Hurricane Nigel forms in Atlantic

National Hurricane Center forecasters (pictured in 2022) on Monday warned about the formation of Hurricane Nigel in the Atlantic, saying it is expected to become a major hurricane tomorrow. File Photo by Robert Kaufmann/FEMA

Sept. 18 (UPI) — Several days after a post-hurricane Lee swept across Nova Scotia, hurricane forecasters on Monday warned about the formation of Hurricane Nigel in the Atlantic, saying it is expected to become a major hurricane within a day.

In a morning advisory, National Hurricane Center forecasters said Nigel was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. It was about 875 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and moving northwest at 12 mph.

Forecasters did not issue coastal watches or warnings because of the storm’s location far removed from land.

The hurricane center said in its 11 a.m. advisory that the storm is expected to turn northward late Tuesday and then accelerate northeastward through the rest of the week. For the U.S. eastern seaboard, early indications are that the storm will follow a similar northward progression like that of Hurricane Lee last week.

That storm produced dangerous surf conditions from Florida to New England.

Forecasters also said Nigel could experience a gradual weakening trend beginning Wednesday.

Currently, hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center of the storm, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 160 miles, forecasters said.