ORLANDO, Fla. _ Tropical Storm Sebastien, expected to become a hurricane by Friday, continues to crank out stronger winds in the final days of hurricane season.
Sebastien's maximum sustained winds intensified to 60 mph Thursday morning with higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center's 5 a.m. update.
Its tropical storm force winds reach up 160 miles away from the core, said NHC hurricane specialist John Cangialosi.
Sebastien is about 355 miles from the northern Leeward Islands and is moving east at 8 mph, Cangialosi said.
The storm is not expected to make landfall.
The storm's organization has been atypical of tropical systems, data has showed Sebastien's wind field is lopsided with its tropical-storm-force winds confined to the eastern side of circulation, Cangialosi said.
Sebastien has also given meteorologists trouble is finding its core due to cloud patterns lacking banding features, Cangialosa said.
Sebastien is expected to become extratropical Saturday and begin dissipating into the following week.
The last day of hurricane season is November 30.
