Wilfred weakening in the open Atlantic

Alex Sosnowski
·2 min read

A disturbance AccuWeather meteorologists have been monitoring since it cruised across Africa last week became Tropical Storm Wilfred on Friday.

Satellite photos from Thursday night indicated a substantial uptick in thunderstorm activity on the eastern side of the system with a trademark high cloud shield overtop of the system.

The system continued to show signs of organization overnight, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) confirmed at 8 a.m. EDT Friday that the system had near-tropical-storm-force winds on its eastern flank within the thunderstorms but did yet not have a well-defined center.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

Just hours later, prior to 11 a.m. EDT, the NHC confirmed that a low-level circulation had formed, and the system was named Tropical Storm Wilfred, the last designated name on the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season list. It became the earliest 21st-named storm ever to form in the basin, shattering the old record held by Vince of Oct. 8, 2005.

Just two days later, at 11a.m. AST Sunday, Wilfred weakened back to a tropical depression about 1,200 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. As of 5 p.m. AST on Sunday, Wilfred still had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and was moving west-northwest at 20 mph.

A general west to northwest drift is forecast into early week.

This path will put Wilfred in an area of disruptive wind shear. As these strong winds aloft begin to tear away at the storm, additional weakening of the system is likely and Wilfred is expected to eventually dissipate well east of the Lesser Antilles.

Factoring in the system over the central Atlantic grabbing the last regular name on the list, the alphabetical names for 2020 has been exhausted. The Greek alphabet is now being utilized for additional storms this season.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, AccuWeather meteorologists continue to keep an eye on Tropical Storm Beta, which developed over the western Gulf of Mexico on Friday afternoon, and will bring days of flooding rainfall and gusty winds from Texas to Louisiana. Hurricane Teddy, meanwhile, is expected to approach Atlantic Canada this week.

There is also the chance that Paulette, currently a non-tropical storm over the North Atlantic, re-acquires tropical characteristics near the Azores in the coming days.

AccuWeather is projecting 28 named systems (at least tropical storm strength) this season, which would tie the historic 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.