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June 6 (UPI) -- The first named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season is here. Tropical Storm Alex formed off the southeast coast of Florida on Saturday night, and now AccuWeather meteorologists say the storm is on a path that will take it close enough to Bermuda to brush the island nation with rain and gusty winds, while stirring a large swath of rough seas in the process.
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Alex formed amid a cluster of disturbed weather that AccuWeather's expert team of meteorologists have been tracking since early last week. The disturbance moved inland as a tropical rainstorm in Florida on Saturday, giving the Sunshine State its first encounter with tropical weather and creating flooding chaos in Miami.
In its 5 p.m. Monday update, the National Hurricane Center said Alex was about 140 miles northwest of Bermuda, and was traveling east-northeast at 28 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, a decrease of 5 mph in the last few hours.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Bermuda.
Adam Douty, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather who frequently issues tropical outlooks for the Atlantic Ocean, said that lessening wind shear allowed the rainstorm to organize into Tropical Storm Alex after it crossed Florida.
Strong wind shear kept the system from becoming a full-fledged tropical storm before moving onshore Saturday morning, despite 40-mph winds within the center, which is within tropical storm criteria (maximum sustained winds 39-74 mph). AccuWeather meteorologists had been warning all week that even if the system failed to garner a name by the time it reached Florida, it would still bring life-threatening flooding to South Florida.
Seas will be stirred across the southwestern Atlantic Ocean as Alex zips along to the northeast through Monday, leading to dangerous surf and stronger, more frequent rip currents from the northwest Florida coast to Virginia's Tidewater region.
Minor beach erosion and coastal flooding can also occur, especially at high tide.
Alex's path will put it on a course that could take its center within a few hundred miles of Bermuda.
The NHC stated that the "closest approach" to Bermuda will be made Monday afternoon.
"While the center is expected to pass to the north of Bermuda Sunday night into Monday, it can bring gusty winds and periods of rain to the islands, though significant impacts are not expected," Douty said.
Forecasters expect a general inch or two of rain across Bermuda from Sunday night through Monday, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 3 inches.
Wind gusts of 40-60 mph, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 65 mph, are expected as the storm skirts by the islands during this timeframe.
Strict building codes enable the island to withstand a strong tropical storm or Category 1 hurricane with minimal impact and damage. In addition, the island nation captures and recycles rainwater since there are no natural reservoirs or springs, so any rain that does fall will be beneficial to the region. As a result, the system is rated a less than one on the AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes in Bermuda.
As Alex continues to race northeastward into the North Atlantic, seas are expected to become less dangerous for boaters and bathers along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and Bermuda heading into the middle of the week.
In the wake of this storm, no other budding tropical features have caught the eye of AccuWeather meteorologists over the coming week.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began Wednesday.
