City of Mexico Beach issued the following announcement on July 24.
Tropical Storm Gonzalo developed in the central Atlantic, about 1,250 miles east of the southern Windward Islands, on Wednesday morning, setting yet another record for the basin. Gonzalo is the earliest ever “G” named storm since the satellite era of the 1960s, beating out Tropical Storm Gert, which formed on July 24 amid the intense 2005 hurricane season.
After forming into Tropical Depression 7 around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the system strengthened enough to be given the name Gonzalo shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday when maximum sustained winds increased to 45 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
As of 5 a.m. EDT Friday, winds were sustained at 60 mph as the storm moved along to the west at 14 mph. Gonzalo still has a chance at becoming the Atlantic's first hurricane of the season prior to reaching the Windward Islands, and a hurricane watch is in effect for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. However, time may be running out for the tiny storm to become a hurricane.
During Friday morning, tropical storm force winds from Gonzalo only extended outward to 25 miles from the center.
Many storms this year have beat out storms from the notorious 2005 season, known as the most active on record, for the title of earliest to form in the basin, but the 2020 season pales in comparison in terms of overall intensity. By this point in 2005, the Atlantic basin had already spawned three hurricanes and two major hurricanes — Category 3 or higher — according to Philip Klotzbach, a tropical meteorologist at Colorado State University.
The formation of Tropical Depression 7, now Tropical Storm Gonzalo, ended what was a lull in tropical activity across the basin that lasted about 10 days after Tropical Storm Fay dissipated on July 11 after moving ashore over the interior northeastern United States.
Gonzalo strengthened in a pocket of relatively low wind shear, or changing wind with altitude, and a moist atmosphere -- both factors that favor a strengthening tropical system.
Original source here.
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