NHC: First storm of 2023 hurricane season formed in January

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced on Thursday that the first storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season actually formed in mid-January.

NHC forecasters made the determination while conducting a standard reanalysis of systems observed over the Atlantic in recent months. An area of low pressure that formed off the coast of the northeastern United States attained enough organization to be classified as a subtropical storm by NHC.

Tracks of named storms that have formed and/or tracked through the Atlantic basin during the... — Tracks of named storms that have formed and/or tracked through the Atlantic basin during the month of January.(Credit: NOAA Historical Hurricane Tracks)

While the low pressure center didn’t officially receive the subtropical storm designation until May, it certainly garnered plenty of attention from meteorologists as it was spinning over the Atlantic in January.

Here's a storm-centered loop of Invest 90L gradually acquiring subtropical characteristics throughout the day over the Gulf Stream off the Northeast US coast, with convection rotating around an apparent eyewall towards sunset.

Today is January 16th. pic.twitter.com/0GTo7Xmchh
— Tomer Burg (@burgwx) January 16, 2023

Storm-following GOES-16 infrared satellite animation of tiny Invest #90L spinning in the North Atlantic in... January. pic.twitter.com/dEkkN1Sk9h
— Dr. Kim Wood (@DrKimWood) January 16, 2023

Invest #90L over the NW Atlantic moved very close to Sable Island off Nova Scotia last night. Credit to Kerry Emanuel on the MAP email list for noting some of the obs there, including winds gusting to 59 kt (68 mph) and pressure down to 981 hPa. Fascinating little January storm! pic.twitter.com/oqItUvnwJD
— Andy Hazelton (@AndyHazelton) January 17, 2023

It may seem odd to hear about a subtropical storm in January, but believe it or not, named systems have occurred in every month of the year. Records from NOAA’s Historical Hurricane Tracks tool show a total of 67 named systems that have been tracked in the months outside of the official hurricane season since 1851. This year’s subtropical storm is the 6th on record to form in January and the first since Hurricane Alex formed over the open Atlantic in 2016.

Tracks of named storms that have formed and/or tracked through the Atlantic basin in the months... — Tracks of named storms that have formed and/or tracked through the Atlantic basin in the months outside of the official hurricane season.(Credit: NOAA Historical Hurricane Tracks)

What does January’s subtropical storm mean for this year’s list of storm names? Traditionally, subtropical storms do get a name, but with this one being designated after the fact, NHC says it will remain unnamed. That means that the first tropical depression that forms during the upcoming hurricane season will actually be designated ‘Tropical Depression Two’, but the first tropical storm will be named Arlene, the first name on the 2023 Atlantic storm name list.

List of names to be used for Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes in 2023. Even though a... — List of names to be used for Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes in 2023. Even though a subtropical storm formed in January, the name Arlene will be reserved for the first system that forms during the upcoming hurricane season.(WAFB)

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved.