A low pressure has strengthened into the fifth tropical depression of the 2020 season. The system is not a threat to the United States.

(WWL-TV) — An area of low pressure has become Tropical Depression Five and is forecast to become Edouard by Saturday night. The system is moving northeast and will pass near Bermuda over the next few days. It is not a threat to the United States. 

If the storm becomes named it will be the earliest “E” storm on record in the Atlantic. The current record is Emily, which formed on July 11, 2005. However, this storm is nothing like Emily. It will remain fairly weak. Emily was the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record as it moved through the Caribbean. The storm made landfall in Mexico. 

A series of upper disturbances have been indicated on models to attempt to move eastward into the Atlantic off the East coast and potentially take on tropical characteristics. Still uncertain if this will occur. This would happen next week.

No other systems are being monitored for development.

The official beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season was June 1. This season is predicted to be more active than average, due to factors like a potential La Nina event by September and warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures.

NOAA’s forecast issued on May 21 predicted 13-19 named storms of which 6-10 would be hurricanes and 3-6 would be major hurricanes (of Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale).

Tropical Storm Arthur and Tropical Storm Bertha which formed in May were the first two named storms of the year in the Atlantic. This is the sixth year in a row with a named storm forming earlier than the official start of hurricane season.

Tropical Storm Cristobal formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico on June 2, which made it the earliest third named storm on record in the Atlantic Basin. The previous record was Tropical Storm Colin on June 5, 2016. The messy Cristobal made landfall east of Grand Isle on June 7. Storm surge reached 3-6 feet along parts of our Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. Rain totals for most of our area were 2-5 inches, while sustained winds across our area were 20-40 mph. Some much higher rain totals and other impacts like tornadoes were felt well east of Louisiana as far as Florida.

Tropical Storm Dolly formed on June 16 over the far north Atlantic near Nova Scotia. It quickly fizzled.