Alex is not just the first Atlantic hurricane to form in January, it’s also the first North Atlantic hurricane to thrive in January since Hurricane Alice in 1955, which formed on 30 December 1954, said NASA.
Advertisement
A rare January hurricane formed Thursday in the Atlantic, the first one to form in that month in 78 years.
At 10 p.m. ET Thursday, Hurricane Alex packed sustained 80-mph winds as it spun some 275 miles (about 433 kilometers) south of Portugal’s Azores islands, parts of which are under a hurricane warning. The storm could lead to up to seven inches of rain in isolated areas of the Azores and three to five inches throughout.
A hurricane has formed far out in the Atlantic ocean, the first time this has happened in January since 1938, said USA officials.
A new calendar year means starting over in the alphabet on named tropical storms.
The formation of a hurricane in the Atlantic in January provides a reminder for the insurance and reinsurance sector that weather and meteorology can be unpredictable and seasons can be extended, if conditions are right.
“Remarkably, Alex has undergone the transformation into a hurricane”.
From the Azores, Hurricane Alex is expected to travel north, deeper into the open waters and shipping lanes of the Atlantic before weakening, Feltgen said. “With these changes, the government of the Azores has issued warnings for most of the Azores islands”.
Hurricane force winds extend 25 miles from its centre, with tropical storm force winds 150 miles from its centre.
Alex is also expected to generate a unsafe storm surge and significant coastal flooding near and to the east of its eye.
Advertisement
The forecaster who wrote the discussion noted that it is rare to see a hurricane form above waters that have a temperature colder than 20 degrees Celsius, or 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Tropical storms have smaller wind fields and are warm core systems.
