Tropical Storm Arthur Forms Off Florida Coast, First Named Storm of 2020

By Space Coast Daily // May 16, 2020

Arthur poses No threat to Florida

ABOVE VIDEO: On Friday, longtime Central Florida weatherman Danny Treanor provided a 2020 Hurricane Season Outlook for the Space Coast with Space Coast Daily’s Zach Clark.

This image shows the movement of Tropical Storm Arthur from 1 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET. (NHC Image)

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – National Hurricane Center has upgraded the tropical depression off the east coast of Florida as Tropical Storm Arthur after a reconnaissance aircraft discovered the system gained strength as it warmer water in the Atlantic on Saturday evening.

At this time, Tropical Storm Arthur poses no threat to Florida as the system is expected to move along the east coast and out of Florida waters early Sunday morning.

Arthur is currently located about 120 miles east of Florida’s Space Coast.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for North Carolina. Arthur is expected to arrive east of the coast of North Carolina on Monday.

Experts with the National Weather Service say a Tropical Storm Warning could be required for portions of North Carolina by Sunday morning.

This image shows the five-forecast for Tropical Storm Arthur and the current projected path it could take in the coming days. (NHC Image)

Arthur is currently registering 40 mph max sustained winds and is moving to the north-northeast at 13 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from the center.

The opening of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is less than three weeks away and is predicted to be more active than usual, according to the Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project.

Arthur gives supporting evidence for that prediction for as active as the Atlantic is already, despite hurricane season officially kicking off June 1.

“We anticipate that the 2020 Atlantic basin hurricane season will have above-normal activity,” said a spokesperson with the Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project.

“Current warm neutral ENSO conditions appear likely to transition to cool neutral ENSO or potentially even weak La Niña conditions by this summer/fall. Sea surface temperatures averaged across the tropical Atlantic are somewhat above normal.”

This image shows the cloud cover of Tropical Storm Arthur from 1 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET. (NHC Image)

Information obtained a few months ago indicates that the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season will have activity above the 1981-2010 average.

Estimates show that 2020 will have about 8 hurricanes (average is 6.4), 16 named storms (average is 12.1), 80 named storm days (average is 59.4), 35 hurricane days (average is 24.2), 4 major (Category 3-4-5) hurricanes (average is 2.7) and 9 major hurricane days (average is 6.2).