Josephine forms in the Atlantic Ocean, setting another record for this historic hurricane season

What was tropical depression eleven increased in intensity on Thursday morning with winds of 45 mph and could intensify through Friday night, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 pm EDT advice.

This increased intensity was strong enough for the NHC to call it a tropical storm and give it a name, making it the earliest “J” storm to form in the Atlantic Ocean ever.

The previous record holder was Jose, who formed on August 22 during the historic hurricane season 2005.

Josephine – pronounced JOH-seh-feen – is located about 865 miles east-southeast of the Leeward Islands and is followed to the west-northwest.

“The storm is likely to continue to intensify, but is expected to follow north of the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the weekend,” said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen.

Josephine will begin to encounter an unfavorable environment over the weekend. It will probably weaken to a depression as the new week turns into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

This storm comes on the heels of NOAA’s updated forecasts for the season. They are now predicting up to 25 named storms – something they have never done before.

An average season produces 12 named storms.

Josephine is the 10th named storm, and we are only two months and 13 days into the 6-month season.