Tropical Storm Arthur Forms, Making it The Atlantic's Sixth Named Storm Before Hurricane Season in Six Years

The names of tropical storms have now preceded the tropical weather seasons for six-consecutive years now after Tropical Storm Arthur checked his name onto the list Saturday night. Tropical Storm Arthur became the first named storm of the 2020 season, deemed by the National Hurricane Center.

The National Hurricane Center late Saturday night said that reconnaissance aircraft flew into the storm and declared that the tropical depression had, indeed, turned into a tropical storm, making this the sixth-straight year a named storm happened before June 1, which is the official start of hurricane season in the Atlantic.

The center of Tropical Storm Arthur was located by an Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft west of Florida and in the north Bahamas islands. Although the storm has a trajectory path of east and northeast, its outer bands could whip the SE coast of the United States, especially those of North Carolina before it is expected to rollout northeasterly into the Atlantic Ocean.

"Arthur will remain well offshore the east coast of Florida and Georgia tonight and Sunday, and then move near or east of the coast of North Carolina on Monday," the National Hurricane Center reported Saturday night.

Data from the reconnaissance aircraft indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased to near 40 mph (65 km/h) with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles (130 km) from the center.