It is rare to see a hurricane develop so close to the West African coastline. Fred is the eastern most hurricane to be formed over the Atlantic Ocean and is the first hurricane to pass over the islands since 1892. Records have been maintained since 1851 but, there is some conjecture that the data that precedes since the advent of satellite technology in 1960’s is less reliable.
On Tuesday evening, Fred was around 40 kms north-northeast of Santo Antao which is roughly 640 kms west of Dakar, Senegal. It moved northwestwards at 20 kmph with hurricane force winds spanning around 25 kms from its center. Although it moved northwestwards but it is unclear whether the hurricane would make it to the Caribbean islands as it has already started to weaken.
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