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USA TODAY
Tropical Storm Josephine formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday morning, forecasters from the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm, which is the 10th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.
Josephine shattered the early-season formation record for the J-named storm in the basin: The previous record belonged to Jose, which developed on Aug. 22, 2005.
In an average hurricane season, the 10th named storm doesn’t form until Oct. 19.
As of the 11 a.m. ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Josephine was about 975 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands and traveling west-northwest at 15 mph.
No coastal watches or warnings were in effect.
Josephine is riding the underbelly of the Bermuda High. Once it reaches a weakness in the counterclockwise swirl that typically lives between Bermuda and the Azores, it will take a more northerly heading.
AccuWeather hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski said that “we expect this system to move on a curved path to the west-northwest and then to the northwest in the coming days.”
This projected path could take Josephine relatively close to the Leeward Islands in the northeastern part of the Caribbean this weekend.
Even if the center of the storm stays over the open water, the system could pass close enough to bring heavy rain and strong winds to parts of the Leeward Islands.
The storm is not forecast to strengthen into a hurricane, forecasters said, and may actually dissipate within the next five days.
So far this year, Cristobal, Danielle, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna and Isaias have also set records for being the earliest named Atlantic storms of their respective place in the alphabet. Only Hanna and Isaias this year have developed into hurricanes.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Kimberly Miller reports for the Palm Beach Post; Doyle Rice for USA TODAY
Hurricane season:
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