MIAMI - Epsilon clung to hurricane strength for a third straight day in the open Atlantic on Wednesday, but forecasters predicted the storm would weaken.

The 26th named storm of the record-breaking hurricane season poses no threat to land.

Epsilon had top sustained winds of about 75 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The minimum for a hurricane is 74 mph.

Epsilon, the 14th hurricane of the season, was downgraded Sunday to a tropical storm but unexpectedly regained hurricane strength.

At 4 a.m. EST, Epsilon was centered about 775 miles southwest of the Azores and was moving southwest near 9 mph.

The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and officially ended Nov. 30.

Epsilon was only the fifth hurricane to form in the month of December in more than 150 years of record-keeping, the hurricane center said. The latest that a hurricane has formed in the Caribbean was Dec. 30, in 1954.