Now packing sustained winds of 85mph and higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center predicts that little change in strength is forecast over the next 24 hours. However, weather expert Dr. Jeff Masters points out on the weather underground website (http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/alex-becomes-the-atlantics-first-january-hurricane-since-1955) “Sea-surface temperatures beneath Alex are only around 20-22°C (68-72°F)”.
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With an island-bound population of 250,000, the Azores are quite used to brutal tropical weather during the typical hurricane season. After forecasters noticed a distinct eye with symmetric convection, along with some upper-level help, they decided that it has reached hurricane criteria according to their latest discussion.
A hurricane warning has been issued for the Azores.
The storm should dump between 3 and 5 inches of rain on the islands, with 7 inches possible in isolated locales.
On average, the first named storm in the Atlantic does not occur until July 9.
The storm continues to strengthen. Being ‘subtropical’ is a hybrid state for storms which exhibit some, but not all the characteristics of a fully tropical storm.
Alex formed six weeks after the end of the official hurricane season, a period from June 1 to November 30 that sees the vast majority of hurricanes. The differences between the two are why it is not called a tropical storm right now. Tropical storms are “warm water” systems that don’t include fronts.
Likewise, roughly once every 10 years, a tropical storm has formed in the month of December. It’s likely partly due to the warmer than normal waters in parts of the Atlantic where the storm has been hanging out. On January 8, the low then passed near Bermuda and in the following days moved east and southeast through the Atlantic.
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The National Hurricane Center issued a Hurricane advisory. Do you think El Nino has anything to do with Hurricane Alex?
