Tropical Storm Arlene Forms in the Gulf of Mexico
This GOES-East GeoColor satellite image taken Friday, June 2, 2023 at 1:21 p.m. EDT., and provided by NOAA, shows Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, in the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida. (NOAA via AP)
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Note: All times Eastern.
The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was west of Fort Myers, Fla., on Friday afternoon and moving south toward Cuba
Tropical Storm Arlene formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, making it the first named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.
Arlene was 240 miles west of Fort Myers, Fla., Friday afternoon and was moving southeast toward Cuba at seven miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect, the Hurricane Center said.
The storm had sustained winds of 40 m.p.h., with higher gusts. Tropical disturbances that have sustained winds of 39 m.p.h. earn a name. Once winds reach 74 m.p.h., a storm becomes a hurricane, and at 111 m.p.h., it becomes a major hurricane.
Arlene is technically the second tropical cyclone to reach tropical storm strength this year.
The Hurricane Center announced in May that it had determined that a storm that formed off the northeastern United States in mid-January was a subtropical storm, making it the Atlantic’s first cyclone of 2023.
However, the storm was not retroactively given a name, making Arlene the first named storm in the Atlantic basin this year.