Tropical Storm Wanda retained its strength Wednesday morning but expanding its reach as it moves north-northeast in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. update.
Wanda’s maximum sustained winds remain at 50 mph, but its tropical-storm-force winds now reach up to 105 miles from its core, the NHC said. The storm was 695 miles west of the Azores and moving at 10 mph.
Wanda formed late Saturday as a subtropical storm, the 21st named storm, and exhausted all of the letters in the World Meteorological Organization’s Atlantic hurricane season alphabet. There have been only two other storm seasons with more than 21 named storms: 2005 and 2020.
In previous years, the hurricanes and tropical storms that came later in the season took on Greek alphabet names like Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Meteorologists switched to a non-Greek alphabet to avoid confusion among similar-sounding names such as Eta and Theta.
At present, Wanda is no threat to land.
Models show the system will retain its strength and shouldn’t observe any more gains becoming post-tropical by this weekend while passing over cooler waters during its eastbound journey, the NHC said.
The NHC is not tracking any other systems for the time being.
The hurricane season lasts through Nov. 30.
Jpedersen@orlandosentinel.com
