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Tropical Storm Wilfred and Subtropical Storm Alpha form, Greek alphabet to be used for rest of hurricane season

Wilfred and Alpha not expected to impact South Florida's weather
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Posted at 10:57 AM, Sep 18, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-18 14:04:34-04

MIAMI — That didn't take long.

Just two hours after Tropical Storm Wilfred formed Friday morning in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Subtropical Storm Alpha formed near the coast of Portugal, meaning we've officially entered the Greek alphabet for named storms this hurricane season.

According to the National Hurricane Center, this is the earliest we've ever reached the letter "W" in a hurricane season.

Any named storms that form from now on will be given a name from the Greek alphabet, like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and so on.

LATEST FORECAST:

Tropical Storm Wilfred forms in Atlantic Ocean, Greek alphabet will be used for rest of hurricane season

SPECIAL SECTION: Hurricane Guide

According to the 11 a.m. Friday advisory from the NHC, Wilfred has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is moving west-northwest at 17 mph.

Wilfred is expected to be short-lived and won't impact our weather in South Florida.

WPTV First Alert Meteorologist Kahtia Hall said the storm is forecast to run into wind shear over the next few days, which will weaken it to a remnant low by Tuesday.

The NHC said Subtropical Storm Alpha is a small storm and will also be short-lived.

Alpha is expected to move across the coast of west-central Portugal during the next couple of days before dissipating.

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