Meet Alex, the First Atlantic hurricane to form in January since 1938

Alex is truly rare. It is one of the earliest tropical systems to form in the Atlantic hurricane basin since record-keeping began in 1851, according to Bob Henson, a meteorologist at Weather Underground. The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, and the first named storms of the year in both the Atlantic and the Pacific usually form in July, according to NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. Tropical storms form most often over warm waters, and not in the dead of winter.