It has happened before but it doesn't happen often. In fact, the last time a weather phenomenon such as this occurred the year was 1938. The phenomenon is a hurricane forming in the Atlantic Ocean in the month of January. It's truly odd since the typical Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1st through November 30th.

State Climatologist Barry Keim says Hurricane Alex is an anomaly. This is only the second time a hurricane has formed in the Atlantic Basin during the month of January.

It’s expected to ramp up to about 90 mph rather before it eventually starts to dissipate. After crossing the Azores, it is expected to weaken and dissipate as it moves out over colder water.

With winds forecast to be very close to 90 mph over the next 24 hours you can see that Alex is indeed a significant storm.  The good news is other than the Azores Islands the system should not affect any other land mass as a hurricane.

In addition to Alex and the storm that formed in 1938 there have been two other active storms during the month January. These storms actually formed in December of the previous year.

Hurricane Alice formed on December 31, 1954 and then carried on into 1955. Tropical Storm Zeta formed on December 30th 2005 and then lived on into 2006.

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