Tech: Jose has officially become the season's fifth hurricane

Jose became a hurricane on Wednesday, with wind speeds of 75 mph. It's the 10th named storm of this year's hurricane season, and the fifth hurricane.

As its wind speeds increase, Hurricane Jose has officially transitioned from a tropical storm to a hurricane.

The storm was named on Tuesday, and became a hurricane Wednesday afternoon when its winds hit 75 mph. It's currently about 1,040 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, a collection of islands in the Caribbean Sea. The National Hurricane Center has not issued any coastal watches or warnings.

As of 5 p.m. this afternoon, Jose was moving west at 16 mph, and the National Hurricane Center expects that motion to continue over the next two days.

Although forecasters are watching Jose closely, the more pressing concern is Hurricane Irma, a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm. Irma hit several Caribbean islands on Wednesday, including Barbuda, St. Martin, Anguilla, and St. Barts. The US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are both experiencing severe weather — reports suggest power has already gone out for hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans.

Many parts of Florida are in Irma's projected path, and could be hit by the storm on Saturday. Areas in the southern part of the state, including the Florida Keys and Miami, are already being evacuated.

Meanwhile, the US is still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall on August 25, leaving devastation and severe flooding in many parts of Texas and Louisiana. The storm dumped as much as 51.88 inches of rain in some spots, and has claimed at least 60 lives.

The peak of hurricane season is usually around September 10, so more activity is still expected in the Atlantic. Yet another tropical storm, Katia, is located off the coast of Mexico and is projected to become a hurricane as well.

Jose became a hurricane on Wednesday, with wind speeds of 75 mph. It's the 10th named storm of this year's hurricane season, and the fifth hurricane. Read Full Story