5 is the Magic Number
Something you don't see every day - 5 named storms in the Atlantic basin. The forecasts called for an active season and the Atlantic is delivering in spades. It's entirely likely that we'll have to resort to Greek letter names within the next few weeks.
Tropical Depression Rene
Rene is somehow still hanging on as a tropical depression at 11am EDT but is not expected to last much longer.
Hurricane Paulette
Paulette hit Bermuda this morning. Direct hits don't get more direct - for several hours this morning the entire island of Bermuda was inside Paulette's eye. The island has had multiple hours of raking winds - the northern eyewall came ashore around 2am AST and by 9am AST the southern eyewall was moving away. Paulette was strengthening whilst over Bermuda: at 2am AST the windspeed was 85mph but by 9am AST it was up to 100mph. So, Paulette clicked over from a Cat 1 to a Cat 2 whilst over Bermuda. Paulette is expected to intensify further as it pulls away to the northeast, reaching 125mph (Cat 3) in the next 36 hours. Thankfully, Paulette is not expected to be any further threat to land.
Hurricane Sally
Hurricane Hunters confirmed this morning that Sally had intensified quite rapidly and is now packing 90mph winds as of 1130am CDT. Sally is forecast to slow down and execute a tight right hand turn over Chandeleur Sound. Sally will likely make landfall along the MS or AL coast after spending the better part of the next 24-36 hours pounding the Gulf coast. Sally is also expected to strengthen further and could well be carrying 105mph winds (or higher) when it finally comes ashore. Most of the coast from LA to the FL panhandle is going to experience at least tropical storm force winds for an extended period - Sally is close to land and tropical storm force winds extend 125 miles from the center.
The impacts of Sally, apart from the winds, will include an extended period of storm surge up to 11feet and very heavy local rainfall.
Tropical Storm Teddy
With 40mph winds and sitting in the deep tropical Atlantic, Teddy is expected to move NNW and gather strength. Teddy could well be a major hurricane by the weekend. It is not clear if Teddy will pose any threat to land.
Tropical Storm Vicky
Newly formed as of this morning, Vicky is the 20th named storm of the season. Vicky is the last but one name on the 2020 names list (only Wilfred is left). Vicky is not expected to last very long or be any threat to land.