Subtropical Storm Alex transitioned and strengthened today and was declared the first Atlantic hurricane for 2016, a full six months earlier than the average date of the first named storm. This means that Alex has set a number of records. Some of these are detailed in this post at :
- Alex is only the 2nd-known Atlantic hurricane during the month of January since records began 174 years ago (1842).
- Alex is the single strongest hurricane on record during meteorological winter (December, January, and February) [IBTrACS Database].
- Prior to Hurricane Alex, only one January hurricane is found in the historical record, along with 3 in December.
You can see the circulation of Alex and other surface wind features at https://earth.nullschool.net/. It shows you how far north and east this storm is compared to more common hurricanes. The National Hurricane Center is issuing hurricane warnings for the Azores as the hurricane continues to move north towards Greenland.
