Tropical Storm Andrew Ushers in Hurricane Season

Tropical Storm Andrew could build into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season by this afternoon, but it posed no immediate danger on its path far east of the Bahamas, forecasters said.

“There’s no problem through the weekend as far as U.S. interests are concerned,” said forecaster Max Mayfield at the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables. “We’re going to get through the weekend here with no problem.”

Top winds grew to 65 m.p.h. Friday, and forecasters said the swirling storm developed a distinct eye and a more classic shape as barometric pressure dropped.

The storm was moving west-northwest about 10 m.p.h. late Friday, which keeps it on a track for the United States. But its arrival was not expected before Tuesday, and where it might land was anybody’s guess.

At 8 p.m. PDT Friday, the storm’s center was about 610 miles east of Nassau, Bahamas. Storm force winds extend out 85 miles from the center.

Andrew should be somewhere northeast of the Bahamas in two days, and forecasters will be checking its course, Mayfield said.

“It’s kind of like a chess game,” Mayfield said. “If I knew every move my opponent is going to make, I’d play a pretty good game.”

Andrew strengthened from a tropical depression Monday to become the first storm of the season, which runs from June through November.

A depression becomes a named storm when sustained winds reach 39 m.p.h., and it turns into a hurricane when winds reach 74 m.p.h.