Hurricane Sam maintains winds of 150 mph

Hurricane Sam’s winds held steady at 150 mph Friday, just 7 mph shy of Category 5 status, as it churned about 200 miles southeast of Bermuda.

The island, which is under a tropical storm warning, is expected to be spared a direct hit from Sam, the National Hurricane Center said. Sam’s center is expected to pass east of Bermuda overnight.

Sam is tied for the highest wind speed of any hurricane in 2021, joining Hurricane Ida, which had 150 mph winds on Aug. 29, shortly before its landfall at Port Fourchon, La.

Sam has been a major hurricane — meaning Category 3 or above — for six days as of Friday, making it the longest-lived Atlantic major hurricane since Irma in 2017, according to Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach.

Sam, located 215 miles southeast of Bermuda, picked up a bit more speed Friday as it turned to the north at 20 mph, as of 8 p.m.

Hurricane-force winds extend 60 miles from Sam’s center and tropical-storm-force winds extend 205 miles.

Sam, the fourth major hurricane of 2021, is expected to maintain a north-northwest track then head north Friday, when it will be closest to Bermuda. It will move northeast this weekend, experts said.

Tropical storm conditions are possible on Bermuda through Saturday morning.

Forecasters say Sam will stay 500 miles or so east of the U.S. mainland, but could produce swells in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Bermuda. Those swells could spread to the U.S. East Coast by this weekend, impacting Florida north to New England.

“The heaviest seas will generally remain east of Bermuda into this weekend but will build north of Bermuda during the weekend and into early next week, due to Sam’s forecast track and the fact that the storm is expected to grow in size,” according to AccuWeather.

Sam’s intensity is forecast to begin a slow decline Saturday as it encounters cooler water temperatures and storm-shredding wind shear, but it is forecast to remain a powerful major hurricane through at least Saturday night, the hurricane center said Friday.

Forecasters say Sam could end up traveling as far north as Greenland.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Victor has a small window to strengthen in the next 12 to 24 hours before it begins to steadily weaken, the hurricane center said early Friday. Experts say it is no longer forecast to become a hurricane.

If one more named storm forms this season — Wanda — experts say 2021 will rank third in the record books for the number of named storms generated in one hurricane season.

Wanda is the last remaining storm name for 2021, in a season that runs through Nov. 30. Any storms to form after Wanda would be named using an overflow list, which includes Adria, Braylen, Caridad, Deshawn, Emery, Foster, Gemma and Heath.

As of Friday, no additional tropical activity is expected in the next five days, according to the hurricane center.