Tropics: More records fall as Wilfred, Alpha and Beta form on same day

There is truly no rest for the weary when it comes to tropical activity in 2020. The hurricane season which was forecast to be hyperactive has been, well, hyperactive. The National Hurricane Center named three more storms today: Wilfred, Alpha and Beta. This is the first time in history that three storms have been named within a 24-hour span.

Tropical Storm Wilfred was the first to form earlier this morning in the Southeastern Atlantic. This is only the second time that NHC has named a “W” storm – and the earliest on record. Wilfred beat the previous record holder, Wilma (2005), by a full month. Wilfred will continue moving northwestward while gradually weakening.

Just a few hours later, NHC named Subtropical Storm Alpha. This storm is thousands of miles away in the eastern Atlantic. In fact, the system is just a few miles off the coast of Portugal and will make landfall today. The storm should dissipate within a day or so.

Finally, NHC will designate Tropical Storm Beta in the Gulf of Mexico at 5:00pm tonight. This storm deserves the most attention from United States interests, as it may strengthen and meander in the Gulf of Mexico for several days. The most recent track from NHC suggests the storm will make a long, curved loop while lingering off the Texas coast. Heavy, flooding rainfall is possible as a result.

While these new storms formed, Hurricane Teddy continued its trek through the Atlantic. Teddy is a major hurricane, and will barely miss Bermuda to the east this weekend. The storm will then be slingshot northward into Nova Scotia early next week.

It goes without saying that the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season has been unprecedented. The last 15 storms to form have broken records for the earliest named storm of their associated letter in the alphabet. This is only the second Atlantic hurricane season in history to dip into the Greek Alphabet.

Tropical storm activity will remain above normal over the next month. You might want to brush up on your Greek.