Hurricane Humberto has become a Category 5 storm with devastating winds reaching 160 mph as it nears the East Coast.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that the major storm intensified to this highest level of tropical cyclone on Saturday afternoon, with an increase of more than 50 mph over the past day.

Humberto is forecasted to stay a major hurricane through Tuesday, at which point it is expected to be at its closest to the US, near enough to cause severe surf, flooding, and dangerous rip currents along the East Coast beaches.

With sustained winds of 160 mph, Humberto is classified as ‘catastrophic,’ capable of inflicting damage on structures, infrastructure, and the environment, even if it remains over the ocean.

Matt Devitt of WINK News in Southwest Florida revealed that this is first time in 92 years that there have been multiple Category 5 hurricanes in back-to-back years during the Atlantic hurricane season.

Humberto joined Hurricane Erin, which also did not make landfall this summer, but did brings coastal flooding to the mid-Atlantic.

However, forecasters are more concerned with another storm system now feared to strengthen into a hurricane right over the US mainland.

NHC has been tracking Tropical Depression Nine, which they believe will turn into Tropical Storm Imelda by Sunday.

Hurricane Humberto (pictured) strengthened into a Category 5 storm on Saturday afternoon

Tropical Depression Nine, which would be named Imelda when it becomes a tropical storm, is projected to threaten the Southeast next week

Saturday morning, ‘Imelda’ developed into tropical depression, the first stage of a tropical cyclone, where a low-pressure area forms with thunderstorms and relatively low winds.

It’s currently forming off the coast of Cuba with sustained winds of 35 mph, and meteorologists predict that the storm will move straight up the East Coast, passing Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.

The latest forecast from NHC officials warn that Imelda will turn into a hurricane right as it approaches the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.

‘I can’t rule out a hurricane at landfall along with significant flooding as it could slow down or even stall,’ Devitt warned in a post on X on Friday.

Current spaghetti models for the storm show Imelda is expected to reach the Southeast coast and then join Hurricane Humberto out in the Atlantic, turning away from land at the land moment.

However, some storm tracks warn that a hurricane landfall in either Florida or Georgia is still a possibility.

A spaghetti model shows the different possible paths a tropical storm or hurricane might take, based on predictions from multiple weather computer programs.

Each line represents one model’s guess about where the storm could go. If the lines are close together, it means most models agree on the path, and the prediction is more certain.

Storm tracks show Imelda may make landfall at multiple points along the East Coast, from Florida to the Carolinas

Hurricane Humberto is projected to remain at sea and not make landfall in the US

Currently, meteorologists do not expect Hurricane Humberto to reach the US coastline, adding it will eventually turn out to sea like Hurricane Gabrielle did earlier in September. 

Meanwhile, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Chad Merrill told the Daily Mail that Imelda’s ‘legacy will be flooding.’

The veteran forecaster predicted that Imelda could severely impact the Carolinas next week, bringing ‘heavy rain and severe flooding’ to areas ravaged by Hurricane Helene a year ago.

Moreover, hurricane forecasters have been bracing for a potential Fujiwhara Effect, which takes place when two major cyclones get so close to each other that they start to interact.

The storms might rotate around a common point between them, like two hurricanes doing a slow dance.

In some cases, a stronger storm, like Humberto, might absorb a weaker one, creating an even more massive weather event than either storm would have been on their own.

If they’re similar in size and strength, however, they might repel each other and get thrown in completely different directions that forecasters won’t be able to project beforehand.