What do you know? Alex is a Hurricane !

Morning satellite pictures (Fig. 1) indicate that Alex has intensified and developed an eye and has now been classified as a hurricane in the far northeast Atlantic Ocean.

(Fig 1.) Visible satellite imagery of hurricane Alex

The Azores Meteorological Service has issued a Hurricane Warning for the islands of Faial, Pico, Sao Jorge, Graciosa, and Terceira in the central Azores, and a Tropical Storm Warning for the islands of Sao Miguel and Santa Maria in the eastern Azores.

Alex is forecast to move across the Central Azores with increasing winds expected to begin to affect the islands by late tonight. Here is the past track and forecast track for Alex is shown below in Fig. 2

(Fig. 2) Alex ' past and forecast track

After passing north of the Azore on Friday Alex is forecast to curl towrad the NNW or NW and merge with a large extratropical low south of Greenland over the weekend.

According to the NHC Alex is the first hurricane to form in the month of January since 1938, and the first hurricane to occur in this month since Alice of 1955.