A small, low-pressure system located just west of the coast of Portugal strengthened into Subtropical Storm Alpha Friday afternoon.
The system will soon move inland over Portugal and further tropical or subtropical development is unlikely.
This is only the second time in our naming history that the National Hurricane Center (NHC) needed to use the Greek alphabet.
The only other time the NHC had to use the Greek alphabet for naming tropical cyclones was in record-setting 2005, which used six Greek names. The 2005 Greek-named storms were Tropical Storm Alpha, Hurricane Beta, Tropical Storm Gamma, Tropical Storm Delta, Hurricane Epsilon and Tropical Storm Zeta.
In 2005, Tropical Storm Alpha didn’t happen until October 22. The 2020 version of Alpha has beaten that date by more than a month.
AccuWeather meteorologists upped the number of tropical storms anticipated in the record-setting 2020 Atlantic hurricane season this week.
Forecasters, led by veteran hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski, now expect a total of 28 storms, which would tie the record for most storms ever in a season previously set in the notorious 2005 season.
Thirteen hurricanes and six major hurricanes -- Category 3 or stronger -- are predicted in the latest seasonal outlook released this week. In comparison, an average season generates 12 tropical storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
RELATED: An updated Atlantic hurricane forecast predicts 28 named storms, which would tie for the most ever
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