MIAMI (AP) — The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami says Tropical Storm Gonzalo has formed the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
This sets a record for the earliest named seventh tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.
The NHC says Gonzalo is continuing to strengthen and predicts that it will become a hurricane by Thursday.
Tropical Storm #Gonzalo Advisory 4: Gonzalo Continuing to Strengthen. Expected to Become a Hurricane By Thursday. https://t.co/VqHn0u1vgc
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 22, 2020
Forecasters say Gonzalo was about 1,250 miles east of the Southern Windward Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, moving west-northwest at 12 mph.
Gonzalo remained far offshore Wednesday, on a path that could eventually take the storm into the lower Caribbean Sea by this weekend.
The storm's early strengthening breaks a record set by Tropical Storm Gert, which formed on July 24, 2005.
Tropical Storm #Gonzalo has formed over the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Please refer to the Tropical Cyclone Update for more info: https://t.co/k5cRXbtKv2 pic.twitter.com/GMFnuCSjBA
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 22, 2020