Go ahead, re-read the subject; it did NOT say "Winter Storm Update 12/30". Continuing an unprecedented tropical season (and post-season), the 27th named storm, Zeta, has formed today in the eastern Atlantic, south of the Azores. Satellite-estimated intensity is 45kts and 1003mb. It's located at 25.0N 36.9W and tracking NW at 7kts. It has healthy deep convection centralized over the core, and several banding features. It's in about 20kts of westerly shear and is over 23C water. The forecast is bleak for the storm, possibly strengthening briefly in the next 24 hours, then rapidly dissipating in increasingly hostile conditions as it turns toward the west. The formation of Zeta brings the season's NTC up to 268% (an average season is defined to be 100%)
Please visit my tropical Atlantic headquarters.