Tropical Storm Humberto is gathering strength in the Atlantic and may be on the way to full-sized hurricane status by mid-week.

Experts say the storm has sustained winds of about 40 MPH as of Monday morning, but things could get much stronger by Wednesday according to the National Hurricane Center. There is currently a tropical storm warning for the Cape Verde Islands of Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava.

Hurricane season is coming to a close soon, with several storms that looked as though they might be dangerous eventually breaking up or becoming tropical depressions, like Gabrielle. Weather experts say there hasn’t been a full-blown hurricane yet this year, and if Humberto dies down we may not see one. The latest date during storm season for a hurricane to hit was September 12, when another Humberto hit the Gulf of Mexico and Texas in 2007.

Of course, tropical storms can still cause many problems; Gabrielle created massive flooding and mudslides in Puerto Rico last week before the mountain ranges in the area broke up the winds. Meteorologists say that the difference between tropical storms and hurricanes is the amount of sustained winds they carry.

Image: Hurricane Humberto/2007, Wikimedia Commons