The circulation down by Florida I had been mentioning dissipated and moved inland. However, an area of disturbed weather surprised lots of folks by rapidly developing and acquiring tropical characteristics just miles off the North Carolina coast. It was classified as Tropical Depression 1 at 21Z on Sunday with a 1009mb central pressure and a forecast for gradual intensification. Then, at 15Z today (11am Eastern), TD1 was upgraded to Tropical Storm Arthur based on ship and buoy reports. At 15Z, Arthur was located at 36.4N 69.7W and moving ENE at 20kts... away from the mainland. Minimum central pressure was 1001mb and maximum sustained winds were 45kts. Little change is intensity is forecast, but recent developments seen in satellite imagery suggest the storm may be becoming better organized. Although the storm is in fairly strong westerly shear (as evident by the CDO being displaced east of the low-level center), new deep convection is blowing up on the west side of the CDO (-75C cloud tops). TS Arthur is not threatening any land in the near future. In 2-3 days, southeast Canada may need to watch out, but for now, let's just enjoy the action.
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