GREENSBORO, N.C. — After days of anticipation, Alex was named early Sunday morning. Alex is the first-named system of the 2022 hurricane season.
This storm has a history of torrential downpours and flooding across the northwest Bahamas and southern Florida. As this storm continues to move northeast, we don't expect direct impacts on the coast. Fortunately, that's good news as we continue to spiral into this hurricane season.
As of Sunday afternoon, the tropics are quiet elsewhere, but the season is expected to be above average and very busy. The next name on the list for the Atlantic hurricane season is Bonnie.
This tropical cyclone formed out of the remnants of Hurricane Agatha, a tropical cyclone with Eastern Pacific origins, that brought life-threatening flooding to southern Mexico. As it traversed across the southern Gulf of Mexico, the system organized and brought widespread rain to southern Florida and Caribbean islands. Although it remained a potential tropical cyclone through much of that period, the impacts were comparable to that of a tropical storm.
Sunday afternoon, Alex will continue to bring tropical storm conditions to Bermuda through Monday. By Wednesday morning, Alex should weaken to a tropical depression due to cooler sea surface temperatures, shear, and dry air mixing in with this storm.
Large swells and rough surf conditions are possible along the North Coast in the near term.
We will continue to monitor the Atlantic basin through Nov. 30, when the 2022 hurricane season officially ends.