Hurricane Danielle forms in Atlantic, the first of the 2022 season

• Danielle’s maximum winds were 75 mph, the hurricane center said, making it a Category 1 hurricane.
• The storm is expected to meander in the Atlantic over the next few days.
• The hurricane center also is monitoring two other tropical waves in the Atlantic, neither of which are a threat to the U.S.

Hurricane Danielle formed Friday morning far out in the open Atlantic Ocean, forecasters from the National Hurricane Center said. It’s the first hurricane of what has been a remarkably quiet 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.

The storm is no threat to any land areas. 

As of 11 a.m. ET, Danielle’s maximum winds were 75 mph, the hurricane center said, making it a Category 1 hurricane.  

The storm is centered about 885 miles west of the Azores and is drifting west at about 1 mph. The hurricane center said the storm is expected to meander in the Atlantic over the next few days.

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Danielle is forecast to continue strengthening, with winds expected to hit 100 mph over the next 48 hours, which will make it Category 2 storm.

Danielle’s development occurred after an unusually quiet August. In fact, it was the first time in 25 years the Atlantic basin had no named tropical systems in the month of August, AccuWeather said. The first hurricane of an Atlantic season typically develops by Aug. 11, according to the  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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The hurricane center also is monitoring two other tropical waves in the Atlantic, neither of which are a threat to the U.S.

The next named storms that take shape in the Atlantic will be called Earl and Fiona, AccuWeather said.