Arthur Would Be Another Early Tropical Storm: Does Hurricane Season Officially Start Too Late?

Another year, another "preseason" tropical storm.

Tropical (or Subtropical) Storm Arthur is likely to form over the next few days, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday, giving the system a 70% chance of development within the next five days.

The storm should form well off the Florida coast and spin out to sea. Although it won’t directly impact the U.S., the storm will churn up some big waves at the beaches of the Southeast, AccuWeather said.

If Arthur develops, 2020 would mark the sixth consecutive year with a named storm in May, which is before the season’s official start date of June 1.

In fact, “in every year since 2012, except for 2014, there has been at least one named tropical system during May,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.