Category 4 Hurricane Sam looks likely to avoid US landfall

Hurricane Sam, a Category 4 storm, is picking up speed as it sweeps north over the Atlantic, but will likely avoid a U.S. landfall, according to AccuWeather.

The storm as of Sunday night was located roughly 880 miles to the east-southeast of Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean Sea and was moving northwest at 7 miles per hour, according to AccuWeather.

The storm is still a Category 4 major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour.

Hurricane-force winds are extending out up to 30 miles from the center of the storm, and tropical-storm-force winds were moving up to 90 miles from the center.

The National Weather Center on Sunday said Sam is expected to remain a major hurricane for several days.

Sam started moving more northward this weekend, and it will continue to bend towards the north as the week moves forward, AccuWeather reported.

Despite the fact that Sam will likely avoid a U.S. landfall, the Caribbean may still feel some effects of the storm.

Sam is the 18th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in August said it was predicting an above-normal hurricane season in its mid-season update for 2021.

Scientists at the agency said there is a 65 percent chance the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends in November, will be above normal.

“After a record-setting start, the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season does not show any signs of relenting as it enters the peak months ahead,” NOAA Administration Rick Spinrad said in a statement at the time.