Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in National Underwriter, P&C.

Tropical cyclone activity continues to heat up in the Atlantic as Hurricane Igor becomes one of the most potent storms in three years and Julia becomes the fifth hurricane of the season.

The National Weather Service is also keeping an eye on a tropical system forming off of Mexico.

This morning's public advisory from the National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Igor remains a Category 4 hurricane with winds topping out at 135 mph with higher gusts.

Some fluctuation in intensity is expected over the next couple of days, "but Igor is expected to remain a dangerous hurricane through Wednesday," the National Weather Service said.

"The system has weakened slightly from yesterday when its maximum sustained winds saw it become the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic for three years since Hurricane Felix in 2007," said Neena Saith, senior catastrophe response manager for catastrophe modeler RMS.

As of this morning the storm was located 750 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands and is moving west-northwestward.

The storm's five-day track has it on a path toward Bermuda where it is expected to remain a hurricane, possibly Category 1 or 2, as it crosses the island Sunday morning.

Right behind Igor is Hurricane Julia, the fifth hurricane and 10th named storm of the season, a Category 1 storm with sustained winds near 75 mph. The National Weather Service expects the storm, located 330 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands, to strengthen over the next day or so.

RMS said the models show Julia on a parallel track to Igor, about 1,000 miles to the east. Colder sea surface temperatures and wind shear associated with Igor "are likely to limit [Julia's] intensification," RMS noted.

In addition, the National Weather Service reported that a broad area of shower activity over the northwest Caribbean has become better organized and is moving westward to the west-northwest at 10-to-15 mph. This storm "has some potential for development before it moves inland over the Yucatan Peninsula by Wednesday evening," according to the weather service.

The National Weather Service says there is a medium chance--40 percent--of the system becoming a tropical cyclone over the next 48 hours.

RMS noted that between 1950 and the present, the average 10th named storm of the season occurs on or around Oct. 2. With Julia forming into a named storm on Sept. 12, the season is well ahead of average.

Since 1950, only two seasons, 2005 and 1995, have seen more named storms develop by Sept. 12. Those two years were the most active on record.

In 1995, there were 19 tropical storms, 11 hurricanes and five major hurricanes.

In 2005 there were 27 tropical storms, 15 hurricanes and seven major hurricanes. That was the year of Hurricane Katrina.

Mark E.Ruquet is associate editor of National Underwriter, part of Summit Business Media's P&C Magazine Group, which includes Claims.