At a Glance

Theta in the eastern Atlantic broke the record for most storms in any hurricane season.A tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea could become the 30th storm later this week.

The record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season continues with Theta in the eastern Atlantic and another area to watch in the Caribbean that could eventually threaten Central America. That's in addition to Eta which has made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Theta formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean just before 10 p.m. Monday just under 1,000 miles southwest of The Azores, becoming the 29th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

This topped the previous record of storms in any season, 28, set in 2005.

Current Status and Projected Path

(The red-shaded area denotes the potential path of the center of the tropical cyclone. It's important to note that impacts (particularly heavy rain, high surf, coastal flooding, winds) with any tropical cyclone usually spread beyond its forecast path.)

Many of these 29 storms have impacted the U.S. as well, with 12 landfalls.

(MORE: Eta Was the 12th Storm to Make Landfall in U.S. and First in Florida This Season)

(Tracks of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic this season so far.)

This year, the Atlantic season rushed through the standard list of 21 names.

Tropical cyclone activity was off to an early start with two named storms before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season June 1. Arthur developed May 16 and Bertha was named May 27.

Wilfred formed Sept. 18, more than two months before the official end of hurricane season.

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Names

On that same day, Sept. 18, another system became better defined, and the first name on the Greek list needed to be used. This system, designated as Subtropical Storm Alpha, made landfall in Portugal.

Theta became the eighth Greek name used in the list on Nov. 9.

The last time two named storms were active at once so late in the season was in , according to Colorado State University tropical scientist Phil Klotzbach.

There have never been three tropical cyclones at the same time in the Atlantic in November. The latest that occurred was on October 18, 1950, according to NOAA scientist Sam Lillo.

Another Caribbean Storm Ahead

In addition to and Theta, there is another area to watch.

This next area to watch is a tropical wave that is expected to move toward the western Caribbean Sea. The tropical wave is currently located over the central Caribbean Sea and is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

Conditions are expected to be favorable for it to become a tropical depression or storm late this week or over the weekend as it slowly moves westward.

It's too early for details on possible impacts or where it could track. But there is the possibility it could eventually bring more rainfall to parts of Central America next week that experienced flooding from Eta.

If this becomes a tropical storm, it would get the next Greek alphabet name, Iota, and would become the 30th named storm of the historic 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

Potential NHC Development Areas

(The potential area(s) of tropical development according to the latest National Hurricane Center outlook are shown by polygons, color-coded by the chance of development over the next five days. An "X" indicates the location of a current disturbance.)

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