Wilfred formed in the eastern Atlantic Friday morning.

It's remained a weak storm as it moves west across the tropical Atlantic this weekend, and it's not currently expected to directly impact land.

What You Need To Know

  • Wilfred is the earliest W-Storm to form in the Atlantic in recorded history

  • It is the last name on the Atlantic list

  • After the Atlantic names are used, we use the Greek alphabet

Wilfred skipped the tropical depression phase and began as a tropical storm.


It formed to the southeast of Cape Verde and will continue to move west-northwest over open water.

Further intensification is possible, but a large, upper-level trough will move over the path of the storm which will help it weaken.

For now, it is not going to threaten any land.

Significance

Wilfred became the earliest W-storm to form in the Atlantic in recorded history. This was just eight days after the peak of hurricane season.

We typically do not see W-storms until October, if we see them at all. Wilfred is only the second W-storm since NOAA began naming storms in 1953.

The earliest W-storm on record was Wilma in 2005 that formed October 17.

This shows how early this storm has formed, adding to the records we've seen so far this season.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Wilfred is the last name on the list. After the Atlantic list is used up, we use the Greek Alphabet to name storms.

The only other time meteorologists had to use the Greek alphabet was during the 2005 hurricane season where we got six letters into the Greek alphabet.

The last storm, Zeta, formed December 30, 2005, a month after the 'official' end of hurricane season.

Now for the second time in history, we are using the Greek alphabet for the 2020 season. Alpha formed off the coast of Portugal Friday afternoon, and Tropical Storm Beta formed in the Gulf a few hours later.