It was moving east-southeast near 8 mph (13 kph). Forecasters at the US National Hurricane Center said they expected the hurricane to slow down, loop back to the southwest and dissipate over the next few days.

Epsilon did not threaten land but was still a hurricane with top sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).

The 14th hurricane of a record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season had alternately weakened and restrengthened, wobbling back and forth across the 74-mph (119-kph) threshold that categorizes a tropical storm as a hurricane.

Hurricanes need warm water for fuel and forecasters were perplexed at Epsilon's tenacity in the chilly north Atlantic, where it had been expected to fizzle.

"I am not going to speculate any more on the future intensity of Epsilon," hurricane forecaster Lixian Avila said in an advisory on the Miami-based hurricane center's Web site.

The six-month 2005 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended on Nov. 30, but December hurricanes are not unprecedented. Epsilon was the sixth to occur in December since record-keeping began in 1851.

The 2005 season was the busiest on record, with 26 tropical storms, besting the old record of 21 set in 1933. Fourteen of them grew into hurricanes, beating the record of 12 set in 1969.