Alex Strengthens Into Hurricane

“Remarkably, Alex has undergone the transformation into a hurricane”, National Hurricane Center forecaster Richard Pasch wrote in the advisory issued Thursday morning.

Hurricane Alex, the first named storm of 2016, started to spin about 350 miles south of the islands Thursday afternoon.

A rare winter hurricane, the first one to form in the Atlantic ocean in the month of January since 1938 has been named Hurricane Alex. He also says two other systems developed in December and survived into January: Alice in 1954-1955 and Zeta in 2005-2006. Alex was expected to move near or over parts of the Azores on Friday, the US National Hurricane Center said.

“The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30, but storms have, on an occasional basis, formed before and after that date”, The Weather Channel reported.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds Friday morning have decreased to near 75 miles per hour (120 kph).

Meanwhile, another tropical storm, Pali, has formed over the Pacific, similarly rare at this time of year.

Hurricane Alex is the first hurricane to form in the month of January since 1938.

Hurricane Alex is expected to maintain hurricane strength for the next 24 hours, then weaken as it transitions from a tropical system to a “post-tropical” storm.

By 10am EST Thursday, Alex had hurricane-force winds reaching 40km out from its centre, with tropical storm-force winds reaching up to 240km out. Subtropical storms also have the potential to form into fully tropical storms.

The islands are home to 250,000 people and are an autonomous region of Portugal, which lies 850 miles to the east. That precipitation could spur mudslides and flash floods, while unsafe storm surges could produce flooding along the coast. Instead, it will likely head north toward Greenland.