Disturbance off Florida coast has an 80% chance of kicking off hurricane season early
The disturbance just south of the Florida Keys has a good shot of kicking off hurricane season early this year.
The National Hurricane Center said Friday the system has an 80 percent chance of strengthening into a subtropical or tropical storm in the next two days, likely while it’s over the north end of the Bahamas on Saturday. If it does, it will be named Arthur and mark the sixth season in a row where a named storm has formed before the official June 1 start date of hurricane season.
Meanwhile, the disturbance brought nasty weather to South Florida, including heavy rain and gusty winds. The National Weather Service’s Miami office predicted conditions will lighten up Saturday and be mostly clear on Sunday.
“Tropical-storm-force wind gusts are also possible across portions of the Florida Keys, southeast Florida, and the Bahamas during the next day or so,” the hurricane center wrote in the Friday morning update.
An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft scheduled to investigate the system Friday morning was canceled, but another flight is planned for Saturday morning if necessary.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 9:27 AM.
