Officially, hurricane season is from June 1st to November 30th. This season has started much earlier than anticipated. Today the first Tropical Storm of the season was named. Alberto was first announced as a tropical storm late on Saturday afternoon on May 19 2012.
As of the 11PM (EDT) advisory Alberto is at 31.8N 78.5W, off the coast of South Carolina.
The NHC reports winds to be about 45knots. It is however moving southwestward at 5 kts into an area of dry air and higher shear. Then it will move north eastward. The storm however is moving rather slow so for the moment and for some time it will remain at about 45 knots. While tropical storm force winds are not quite on shore, the NHC has decided to issue a Tropical Storm watch for the Southern South Carolina Coast. They also forecast Alberto to become Extratropical by the 96hr forecast and dissipation by 120 hrs.
