MIAMI —

Maria Torres' passion for weather began at a young age. She and her family left San Juan, Puerto Rico and moved to Miami, Florida over 25 years ago.

"I remember back in 1989, it was my first experience going into Hurricane Hugo when it hit Puerto Rico," said Torres. "It was a Category 3 hurricane."

Torres attended Braddock High School in Miami, Florida, where she was a part of the ESOL Program that helped her learn how to speak English.

Her love of atmospheric science led her to Florida State University where she received her bachelor's degree in meteorology. Torres was also the first person in her family to attend college and get a degree.

"It's a big accomplishment and I feel that it was a push for my cousins from both sides of the family to be able to say 'hey if she can do it we can do it as well,'" Torres said.

Torres interned with the federal government while attending college. This experience helped her land her first job at the National Weather Service as a forecaster in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Torres eventually took another job within the National Weather Service and moved to Brownsville, Texas, which is close to the border.

"During the time that I was there in South Texas, projects I tried to get with the community is to build better relationships with them," Torres said. "Having a Hispanic person that could speak to them in their language, was a way to build better trust with the community and educate them in the process of showing what are the watches and warnings and what do they mean, what are the different hazards that could affect the area and how can they be prepared for it."

After the Lonestar State, Torres, her husband, and her son moved back to the Magic City for another role at the National Weather Service in Miami.

"Once I got to Miami, it was, 'Get ready!'" said Torres. "I moved back to Miami in 2016 and I had to deal with Hurricane Matthew. That was my first one here as a forecaster."

Now, Torres is now the new bilingual public affairs officer at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

"I'm really proud of carrying that culture with me and sharing that through my son and the family that we have here in Florida," said Torres. "I carry those deep roots within me, and they define who I am. I carry that through my career as well."

Tropical Storm Beta is gaining strength off the coast of southern Texas, as Subtropical Storm Alpha makes landfall in Portugal Friday afternoon; both are making history because of their names and timing.

This is only the second time in recent history more than 21 significant storms in the Atlantic have been named in a year. Tropical Storm Beta is number 23.

The National Hurricane Center uses a list of 21 names each year to distinguish large storms they are tracking in the Atlantic Ocean. Once those names are all used, scientists use the Greek alphabet to name storms.

This is the second time since the naming conventions were started in the 1950s that the Greek alphabet will be needed. In 2005, 27 storms formed and the last six were named after the Greek alphabet.

In that year, Tropical Storm Alpha didn’t form until mid-October.

Subtropical Storm Alpha is not expected to last very long now that it is over land, bringing winds and rain to Portugal and Spain.

Tropical Storm Beta is gaining strength and could become a hurricane early next week before making landfall along the southern Texas coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

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Tropical Storm Victor formed Wednesday afternoon in the eastern Atlantic, the second to last name on this year's list -- a feat that's reserved for only the most active hurricane seasons.

The National Hurricane Center initiated advisories Wednesday morning on the latest tropical depression to form, maintaining the momentum of our super-charged tropical season.

Located several hundred miles south of the Cape Verde islands, this newly formed tropical storm off the west coast of Africa had sustained winds of 40 mph in the evening. It is forecast to track northwest and continue to strengthen into a hurricane in the coming days.

Fortunately, the storm is not expected to threaten land.

Tropical Storm Victor is exhibiting a classic counterclockwise spin on satellite imagery, a feature that forecasters look for when identifying tropical systems.

The spinning cluster of thunderstorms "now has a well defined circulation and that the radius of maximum wind is 30-40 mi north of the center," said the NHC in its discussion.

The formation of a central circulation, along with sustained winds over 39 mph and a drop in pressure, help characterize this as a tropical storm.

Active hurricane season forges ahead

The emergence of Victor marks an above-average season that continues to unfold. Following Victor, Wanda will be named next before a completely new list of names is introduced for the remainder of the season.

After the record-shattering season in 2020, the World Meteorological Organization decided to do away with the Greek alphabet as the list we would use if we ran out of hurricane names.

When we compare the 2021 season to date, to the historic hurricane season of 2020, a common theme prevails; it's been busy. Some notable differences emerge though, including the fact that the Greek alphabet had already been in use and we had had four 2020 hurricane landfalls along the U.S. coastline compared to just two so far this year.

Hurricane Sam continues to march across the open Atlantic

Not to be overshadowed by the newly formed tropical storm is the much smaller Hurricane Sam.

Although it has been small, it has been very strong. The Category 4 hurricane has sustained winds of 130 mph and is slowly moving northwest. It is forecast to continue this trajectory before turning north this weekend while picking up forward speed and steering east of Bermuda.

It is expected to remain a major hurricane into this weekend and may even strengthen some as it moves into favorable ocean waters. High surf will begin to impact Bermuda by Friday.

Sam will have no impacts on land except for high surf along the Bermuda coastline.

Multiple areas to monitor for potential development

Other than Sam and the newly formed Tropical Storm Victor, two other areas are being monitored for tropical mischief within the next five days.

Although chances remain low, roughly 30% for the cluster of storms southwest of the Cape Verde Islands and 10% for the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Peter, the disturbances pose no risk to land.

The second tropical storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season has formed hundreds of miles off the mid-Atlantic coast.

On Monday evening, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Bill to a tropical storm. It's currently churning out in the Atlantic Ocean with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, as of 7 a.m. ET Tuesday.

When storms over the Atlantic begin to organize into a rotating system around a central "eye," and sustained wind speeds in the storm reach 39 mph, it's classified as a tropical storm. Once wind speeds in the system reach 74 mph, it becomes a hurricane.

Tropical Storm Bill is not expected to make landfall in the U.S., according to the National Hurricane Center's projections on Monday. The agency expects Bill to take a sharp turn northwest and eventually make landfall in Newfoundland on Wednesday afternoon.

One other storm has reached tropical storm status in 2021. Ana formed as a tropical storm in the Atlantic, where it circled for several days before breaking up in late May.