The National Hurricane Center announced at around midday on Thursday, Aug. 13 that it has upgraded Tropical Depression Eleven to Tropical Storm Josephine.
Hurricane turned Tropical Storm Isaias (pronounced "ees-ah-EE-ahs") became the earliest storm to begin with an "I" on record. The previous record was set on Aug. 7, 2005.
The first hurricane of the 2020 season, Hannah, became the earliest storm with an "H" name by nearly two weeks.
Tropical Storm Josephine marks the earliest appearance of the "J' storm since the satellite era began in 1966. The previous record was held by Tropical Storm Jose on Aug. 22, 2005.
At 11 a.m., the center of the storm was located over the Atlantic Ocean about 975 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands, in the area where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean.
It's moving toward the west-northwest at about 15 miles per hour and the general motion is expected to continue for the next few days followed by a turn toward the northwest late this weekend or early next week, the Hurricane Center said.
Tropical-storm-force winds of 80 mph have been reported to the north of the center of the storm. Some additional strengthening is forecast to take place during the next 48 hours, according to the Hurricane Center.
For a look at the five-day projected path for the storm, see the image above.
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