Rare January Atlantic Hurricane

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We began recordkeeping for weather purposes in 1851. This Wednesday, January 13, 2015 saw the formation of what is now Hurricane Alex, making it one of the earliest tropical systems to form in the Atlantic Hurricane Basin.

A lot of you may be asking if this is because of El Nino and the answer may surprise you. If this was the Pacific then the answer to that question would be, “Most likely”. However, in the Atlantic during El Nino years there is more wind shear which actually inhibits the formation of hurricanes, which makes this storm even rarer.

Alex is the first storm to form in the Atlantic during the month of January since 1938. Hurricane Alice was already around when the calendar changed to January 1955. Alice had top winds of 81 mph. Alex is already a bit stronger with winds at 85 mph as of late Thursday.

Alex formed in the Caribbean giving it a tropical origin before made its way across the Atlantic. The expected path will take it north towards Greenland, far away for the United States.