A storm season record is broken as Tropical Storm Josephine forms in the Atlantic

Tropical Storm Josephine made its formal debut Thursday, when the depression’s winds reached a sustained 45 mph in the southwest Atlantic.

Nearly all models for the storm show it heading up the East Coast Monday, but not making landfall in Mid Atlantic states.

However, the storm is still worrisome, because it set a record as “the earliest tenth tropical storm of record in the Atlantic,” according to the National Hurricane Center. The previous record was held by Tropical Storm Jose, which formed on Aug. 22, 2005, experts said.

Josephine is currently 975 miles off the Northern Leeward Islands and moving west, northwest at 15 mph.

Forecasters expect the storm to continue on that track for the next several days, then begin a northward turn late Sunday off the Bahamas.

As was the case with Hurricane Isaias last month, forecasters expect the storm to strengthen a bit, then weaken as it moves north.

“Some additional strengthening appears likely during the next 24-36 hours,” the National Hurricane Center reported Thursday.

“After that, the cyclone is expected to encounter moderate to strong southwesterly shear as it approaches an upper-level trough over the southwestern Atlantic, which should cause at least some weakening.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 12:29 PM with the headline "A storm season record is broken as Tropical Storm Josephine forms in the Atlantic."