Tropical Storm Gonzalo has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, the earliest such “G” storm in hurricane season history.
Gonzalo first strengthened to tropical storm status on Wednesday and as of that afternoon was moving west at 14 miles per hour and packing 50 mph sustained maximum winds. The system is a small cyclone with tropical storm-force winds only extending up to 25 miles from the center, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Gonzalo is expected to move near or over the southern Windward Islands this weekend and could bring direct impacts from winds and heavy rainfall,” the center said. The storm is predicted to strengthen into a hurricane on Thursday before weakening again to a tropical storm.
Here are the 11 am AST, Wednesday, July 22 Key Messages for Tropical Storm #Gonzalo. Interests in the southern Windward Islands should monitor the progress of #Gonzalo https://t.co/pLUNBzuC1h pic.twitter.com/2K86XexOcJ
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 22, 2020
Tropical systems in the Atlantic basin are named in alphabetical order. Tropical Storm Gonzalo beat the 2005 record that Tropical Storm Gert held for the earliest “G” storm, another record broken during the still-early 2020 season.
Two named storms developed before the season even began, and Tropical Storm Cristobal, which formed on just the second day of hurricane season, became the earliest third named storm over the Atlantic Ocean.
