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Tropical Storm Zeta Nears Hurricane Force in Atlantic (Update1)

Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Tropical Storm Zeta strengthened today over the
middle of the Atlantic Ocean, nearing hurricane force after extending a
record season.

Zeta's maximum sustained winds strengthened ``a little more,'' to 65
miles per hour (105 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said today
in an online advisory at 4 a.m. Miami time. Hurricanes have sustained
winds of at least 74 mph.

The storm formed Dec. 30, becoming the 27th named system of the
Atlantic hurricane season, extending a record for the most storms that
was equaled by Hurricane Wilma in October. Should Zeta strengthen into
a hurricane, it would be the latest to form in the Atlantic, adding to
a slew of records this season.

The 1933 record of 21 named Atlantic storms and the 1969 mark of 12
hurricanes were both matched two months ago by Wilma, which became a
tropical storm on Oct. 17, strengthening to a hurricane a day later.
Zeta is the sixth storm since then. Atlantic cyclones are named when
they reach tropical-storm force, at least 39 mph.

Tropical storm-force winds extended about 115 miles from Zeta's center,
according to the advisory. Zeta was about 1,450 miles east-northeast of
the Caribbean Sea's northern Leeward Islands, and moving toward the
west-southwest at near 2 mph.

``A very slow westward motion is expected over the next 24 hours,'' the
hurricane center in Miami said. ``Upper-level winds have become less
hostile overnight and no significant weakening of Zeta is expected
during the next 24 hours.''

Records

Storms that form within three months of the end of the June 1-Nov. 30
season are defined as late, with early storms occurring after March 1.

Zeta comes a month after Hurricane Epsilon. If Zeta strengthens into a
hurricane, it will eclipse the record for the latest-forming hurricane
set in 1954 by Alice, which became a hurricane on Dec. 31 of that year,
lasting until Jan. 5, 1955, according to the hurricane center's
archives. The record-setting Alice was the second storm with that name
in the 1954 season.

Wilma was the last name on forecasters' list for this year's Atlantic
storms, a selection in alphabetical order that omits Q, U, X, Y and Z.
They then turned to the Greek alphabet. Tropical Storms Alpha, Gamma,
Delta and now Zeta, and Hurricanes Beta and Epsilon have since extended
storm-season records.

The current Atlantic hurricane season has broken several other records.
Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Aug. 29,
caused more than 1,200 deaths and was the costliest U.S. natural
disaster. The lowest pressure recorded in an Atlantic hurricane -- 882
millibars on Oct. 19 -- was with Wilma. Vince was the first tropical
system to hit Spain.