Tropical Storm Eta will likely form for the first time in history

By Maggie Brown, WRAL multiplatform producer

2020 just won’t quit.

Hurricane season doesn’t end until November 30, which means we have one more month of storms left.

The next system brewing in the western Caribbean has a 90% chance of development in the next 2 to 5 days. If the system forms, it will be named “Eta.”

Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek Alphabet, which is what weather forecasters use after all the 21 names for storms have been used up.

There has never been a tropical storm, or hurricane, named Eta in history.

This system isn’t likely going to have any impact on the United States, models showed on Saturday morning. The tropical storm is expected to make landfall in Central America, and more than a foot of rainfall is possible.

Meteorologists say that the tropical system is still worth watching. November is usually a busy time for hurricanes, so we should expect to see more storms before the season ends.

If Eta forms, 2020 will become the most active hurricane season since record-keeping began. The 2020 season is currently tied with 2005, when it comes to the most named storms.

Eta would be the 28th storm to form this hurricane season.

According to the National Hurricane Center, names are only given to tropical storms that have sustained wind speeds higher than 39 mph.