The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Josephine emerged Thursday morning in the mid-Atlantic, making it the 10th named storm of this year’s hurricane season.
According to the NHC’s 11 a.m. advisory, the storm is about 975 miles east-southeast of the Northern Leeward Islands, traveling west northwest at 15 mph.
Josephine is currently packing 45 mph winds, but is expected to strengthen to at least 60 mph over the next few days and then weaken again before reaching the Caribbean Sea.
“After that, the cyclone is expected to encounter moderate to strong southwesterly shear as it approaches an upper-level trough over the southwestern Atlantic, which should cause at least some weakening,” says the advisory.
As of now, the storm is expected to turn northeast well before reaching Florida.
So far, it’s been a busy 2020 hurricane season. Josephine is now the earliest “J” storm on record, beating Jose’s naming on Aug. 22, 2005.
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This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2020.