Sam is now the 7th hurricane of the season

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) -

Sam strengthened into a hurricane Friday morning over the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It’s expected to rapidly intensify over the coming days as conditions are favorable for it to thrive. The forecast from the National Hurricane Center has it developing into a major Cat. 4 this weekend. Thankfully, it’ll be over water and no threat to any land areas during this time. The forecast models are trending (in agreement) that Sam will turn to the north... staying north of the Lesser Antilles. Also, this means that it won’t enter the Gulf of Mexico.

It will, however, be a storm for Bermuda to watch. Portions of the East Coast will also want to keep a close watch on this system.