Alex Is Now A Hurricane; Hurricane Warnings Are In Effect For The Azores With Hurricane Conditions Expected From Tonight Into Friday
Rob Lightbown of Crown Weather Services,
January 14, 2016
Hurricane Alex:
10 am EST/9 am CST Statistics:
Location: 31.5 North Latitude, 28.4 West Longitude or about 490 miles to the south of the Azores.
Maximum Winds: 85 mph.
Minimum Central Pressure: 981 Millibars or 28.97 Inches.
Forward Movement: North-Northeast at a forward speed of 20 mph.
It is utterly unbelievable that we now have a hurricane in January! The last time this occurred was Hurricane Alice in January of 1955 and before that was a hurricane in January of 1938. Hurricane Alex is only the fourth named Atlantic storm to form in January in over 160 years.
So, satellite imagery over the last 12 to 18 hours reveals that Alex continues to organize and strengthen and imagery this morning shows that Alex has an eye along with a mass of deep convection surrounding the eye. Because of this, Alex has transformed itself into a hurricane with maximum winds of 85 mph. Some additional strengthening is expected this afternoon into tonight as it approaches the Azores and it is possible that Alex could peak at 90 to 95 mph tonight or early Friday before it begins to merge with a high latitude low pressure system.
Alex is currently tracking to the north-northeast and is expected to turn to a due north direction and track right across the Azores during the day on Friday. Because of this, Hurricane Warnings are now in effect for the Azores. For those you in the Azores, this is what to expect from Alex:
Winds: Tropical storm force winds are expected to impact the Azores tonight with winds increasing to hurricane force with 75 to 100 mph winds expected during the day on Friday. These winds will diminish by Friday night.
Rainfall: Total rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches are expected across the Azores from tonight through Friday. These rainfall amounts could lead to flash flooding and mudslides.
Storm Surge/Coastal Flooding: Significant coastal flooding are expected across the Azores due to a storm surge. In addition, large and very dangerous surf will impact the Azores tonight through Friday.
Hurricane Alex Information:
Model Track Forecast:
Model Intensity Forecast:
Satellite Imagery:
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