Alex Becomes First January Hurricane in Atlantic Since 1938
In fact, the last named Atlantic tropical storm was in 1978, and you have to go back to 1938 to find the last storm that became a hurricane during the month.
On Friday morning, the storm was flying to the north at 24 mph, quickly closing on Portugal’s Azores islands from 50 miles (about 80 kilometers) to the south, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The archipelago’s central islands will suffer the brunt of the rare phenomenon, for which a red weather warning has been issued.
Still, the early hurricane does not necessarily portend an unusually active storm period during the Atlantic hurricane season from June through November, Feltgen said.
The storm is forecast to pass over the Azores as a hurricane Friday before weakening into a tropical storm as it moves into the North Atlantic.
As of 4 p.m. ET, Hurricane Alex reportedly had sustained winds of up to 85 miles per hour. According to KTAB/KRBC meteorologists, the storm formed over waters that are 2-4°F warmer than average yesterday, and has been quickly gaining strength.
It’s also the first hurricane to appear in January since 1955 (Hurricane Alice formed in December and carried over).
Hurricane Alex as seen from a satellite on January 14.
Forecasters noted how unusual it was to have a storm over colder waters. No watches or warnings were issued for the Azores.
With an island-bound population of 250,000, the Azores are quite used to brutal tropical weather during the typical hurricane season.
“Also, a unsafe storm surge is expected to produce significant coastal flooding near and to the east of the center of Alex, along with large and destructive waves near the coast”.
As of Thursday morning, there was no expectation that Alex will directly strike the US or mainland Europe; it was predicted to head north, approaching Greenland early Sunday morning.