Hurricane Humberto grows to Category 5, could bring life-threatening surf off East Coast
- - Hurricane Humberto grows to Category 5, could bring life-threatening surf off East Coast
Dennis RomeroSeptember 28, 2025 at 3:06 AM
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After a slow start, the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season has produced back-to-back tropical cyclones expected to whip up the Atlantic Ocean and produce dangerous waves.
Both Hurricane Humberto, now a top-strength Category 5 hurricane, and Tropical Depression Nine, forecast to become a hurricane on Tuesday morning, are expected to move north and parallel the Southeast and mid-Atlantic coasts.
In a 5 p.m. advisory, the National Hurricane Center said Humberto surpassed the minimum threshold for Category 5 — sustained winds of at least 157 mph — by cranking 160 mph and greater winds.
"Humberto will likely remain a powerful major hurricane for the next several days," the hurricane center said.
It was spinning roughly 350 miles north-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and moving north-northwest at 10 mph, the center said. The main concern so far for the U.S. mainland is high surf, federal forecasters indicated.
Swells will first impact the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Bermuda starting Saturday night, the hurricane center said. They'll likely roll into the United States' East Coast starting Monday, it said.
"These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions," it said in the advisory.
A federal buoy 330 nautical miles northeast of St. Martin in the Leeward Islands on Saturday posted multiple examples of waves at or above 10 feet. Buoys in waters impacted by Humberto on Saturday showed water temperatures as high as 86.7 degrees, a sign that the main fuel for a hurricane's muscle — warm water — is present in early fall.
Humberto is also producing hurricane-force winds as far as 25 miles from its center, the federal forecasters said.
Tropical Depression Nine
Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Nine, spinning about 200 miles northwest of the eastern tip of Cuba and moving northwest at 5 mph, is expected to rise to tropical storm status overnight, according to the hurricane center.
The tropical storm category requires minimum sustained winds of 39 mph. At that point, the storm would get a name, likely Tropical Storm Imelda.
The tropical depression is expected to strengthen through next week and bring the possibility of flash, urban and river flooding to the coastal Carolinas as it parallel's the East Coast on its trek north, the hurricane center said.
Heavy rainfall was expected from Florida to the eastern Carolinas starting early next week, with 6 to 10 inches of precipitation possible, it said.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an emergency declaration, state emergency officials said swift-water rescue crews have been activated and the South Carolina National Guard said 150 soldiers were assigned to help with the state's storm response.
"The time to prepare is now," McMaster said at a news conference Saturday.
National Hurricane Center forecast cones show Tropical Depression Nine keeping some distance from the East Coast as it heads north. But the possibility of landfall in South Carolina is "still a concern," John Quagliariello, National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist said at a news conference.
The storm could also stall off the coast, he said, giving it time to put more water on the ground and increasing flood danger.
Tropical storm watches and warnings
On Saturday, a Nine-related tropical storm watch — which warns of serious winds, waves and surges, but which includes uncertain timing — was in in effect for Florida's Atlantic Coast from roughly Palm Coast to Daytona Beach.
Tropical Depression Nine on Saturday also triggered a tropical storm warning, meaning heavy rain and potent 39- to 73-mph winds are all but assured for the central Bahamas, including Cat Island, the Exumas, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador, as well as for sections of the northwestern Bahamas, including Eleuthera, New Providence, the Abacos, Berry Islands, Andros island and Grand Bahama Island, the hurricane center said.
The storm was also expected to produce a 1- to 3-feet storm surge, as well as life-threatening waves in parts of the Bahamas throughout the weekend, the center said.
The Bahamas Disaster Risk Management Authority in a statement Saturday urged residents of parts of the Northern Bahamas to evacuate ahead of the storm.
U.S. forecasters said in an offshore waters forecast on Saturday that Tropical Depression Nine would likely be a hurricane, defined by 74 to 95 mph winds, by Tuesday morning.
Fewer major storms than average
The back-to-back action, not to mention Hurricane Gabrielle, which spun over the central subtropical Atlantic earlier in the week, are enlivening an otherwise sleepy 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.
Until Wednesday, the season produced a below-average number of major storms, defined as those at Category 3 or greater, despite forecasts for a season that would be more active than the average one, according to Colorado State University meteorologist and hurricane expert Philip Klotzbach.
In a post Friday on X, noting Humberto's graduation to major status, Klotzbach said, "For the first time since 1935, the Atlantic’s first 3 hurricanes have all been major: Erin, Gabrielle, Humberto."
Source: “AOL General News”
