Tropical Storm Epsilon forms in central Atlantic

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Epsilon formed Monday morning in the central Atlantic, the latest in what has been a very active hurricane season.

The storm had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. Additional strengthening was expected, and Epsilon was forecast to be at or near hurricane strength by early Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

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The storm was centered about 735 miles southeast of Bermuda and was stationary.

This year’s hurricane season has had so many storms that the Hurricane Center has turned to the Greek alphabet for storm names after running out of official names.

Epsilon also represents a record for the earliest 26th named storm, beating out Nov. 22 in 2005, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

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The Associated Press