Well..it's official, we have our first named storm of the 2020 Atlantic Season. The official start of hurricane season for the Atlantic Basin June 1 and it ends on November 30th. With that being said, this is not the first time that we have had a named storm before the beginning of the season. In fact-- its almost becoming the norm-- the last 5 seasons have had named storms before the official start of the season!
Arthur currently is a Tropical Storm with maximum sustained winds at 50mph. Arthur is currently moving northeastward at 16 mph. While some strengthening is expected within the next 24 hours, Arthur is already beginning to lose its tropical characteristics, and will probably become extra-tropical on Tuesday.
A large part of the reason Arthur is weakening is because it is beginning to move into an area that is less favorable for development. Arthur has grown off the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, but it is now encountering cooler waters. Tropical systems thrive best with sea surface temperatures near 80 degrees-- and the cooler waters off the Mid-Atlantic coast essentially steals away its "gasoline" source.
If you're planning on going to the beach over the next couple of days, I think you'll want to be on alert-- even as this system churns out to sea, we will still have elevated wave heights for a few days.
