MIAMI - Hurricane Epsilon surprised experts when it regained strength Sunday in the open Atlantic, but the lingering storm still posed no threat to land.

The 26th named storm of a record-breaking hurricane season had top sustained winds near 75 mph, just above the threshold for a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Epsilon first reached hurricane strength on Friday and is the 14th hurricane of the season.

At 10 p.m. Sunday, Epsilon's eye was about 630 miles west-southwest of the Azores and moving east near 9 mph.

The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and officially ended Wednesday.

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