Early on December 30, 2005, more than four weeks after the official end to the season, a tropical disturbance developed in the east-central Atlantic from a frontaltrough. It quickly became more organized and was declared a tropical storm that afternoon. Tropical Storm Zeta made a turn toward the west but stalled and weakened slightly. Zeta's winds remained at 50 mph until January 2 when Zeta appeared to be on the way towards dissipation only to flare up again; winds were upgraded to 60 mph. Zeta continued to strengthen through January 3, reaching a peak wind speed of 65 mph and a pressure of 994 mb.
Zeta is one of the latest-forming tropical cyclones ever to develop in the recorded history of Atlantic hurricane seasons, likely tied with Hurricane Alice of 1954-55, which is estimated to have become tropical on December 30, 1954 at 1 am EST (0600 UTC). It is also only the second North Atlantic storm in recorded history (after Alice) to exist in two calendar years as it survived into 2006. No tropical cyclones are known to have formed during January, although an unnamed subtropical storm formed on January 18 during the 1978 season.
Current storm information
As of 11 pm AST (0300 UTC) January 4), the center of Tropical Storm Zeta was located about 1355 miles (2180 km) east-northeast of the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean. It is now moving west-southwest near 5 mph (7 km/h) and has maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) with higher gusts. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 115 miles (185 km) from the center of the storm. The minimum central pressure is 994 mbar (29.35 inHg).
Weakening is unlikely during the next 24 hours as wind shear weakens, and becoming a hurricane is at this point possible; if it does, it would be the first storm in recorded history to become a hurricane in the month of January. Similarities with the situation of Hurricane Epsilon have led National Hurricane Center forecasters to describe their intensity forecast as low-confidence. Zeta is not a threat to land, but has affected several of the crews taking part in the Atlantic Rowing Race 2005.
