Hurricane Epsilon did not appear to threaten land, churning over the open ocean, 1,965 kilometers (1,220 miles) west of the Azores, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.

It packed maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour, but was likely to start weakening later Friday or Saturday, the forecasters said.

Experts say it is unusual, though not unprecedented, for Atlantic hurricanes to form this late in the year.

The extended hurricane season in the Atlantic has broken several records, with 26 tropical storms and 14 of them hurricanes.

For the first time since authorities started keeping tabs in 1851, three hurricanes ranked at the topmost category five on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, with sustained winds of 280 kilometers (175 miles) per hour.

One of those, Wilma, which hit Florida in October, became the most intense Atlantic hurricane ever, with its central pressure falling to 882 millibars.

For the United States, it was also the most expensive hurricane season.

Several thousand people were killed by hurricanes this year, most of them in Central America and the US Gulf Coast, since the Atlantic season officially started on June 1.

And in a highly unusual development, Tropical Storm Delta slammed the Canary Islands this week, killing seven people.

Experts believe this is part of a historic cycle where periods of intense cyclonic activity alternate with decades of relative calm.

"Evidence of this cycle was demonstrated this year as the Atlantic Basin produced the equivalent of more than two entire hurricane seasons over the course of one," said US National Weather Service Director David Johnson.

"Because we are in an active era, it's important to recognize that with a greater number of hurricanes come increasing odds of one striking land."

Storm-weary residents of New Orleans and other areas devastated by the wrath of this year's powerful hurricanes kept a wary eye on the weather hoping the record-breaking season would end with Epsilon fizzling out in open water.

But experts say they cannot rule out the formation of more such storms this year, and warn that coming seasons may well be just as bad.

"I'd like to foretell that next year will be calmer, but I can't," said Conrad Lautenbacher, who heads the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Historical trends say the atmosphere patterns and water temperatures are likely to force another active season upon us," he said at a news conference earlier this week.

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