Tropical Storm Arthur forms, first of 2026 Atlantic hurricane season
Tropical Storm Arthur has officially formed and is already bringing heavy rain from Texas to the Florida Panhandle.
Former Tropical Storm Arthur has dissipated, but its remnants continued to dump heavy rain as it moved across the Southeast on Thursday morning, June 18th.
The main danger from this system remains heavy rain and the potential for life-threatening flash flooding, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tornadoes are also possible in parts of the southeastern United States into June 18th.
“Continuing heavy rain could extend the flooding threat into the weekend,” the hurricane center said.
Where will the system go next?
The wreckage of the Arthur is expected to continue tracking further east across the southeast from Thursday June 18 until the morning of Friday June 19, the Weather Prediction Center said in an online forecast bulletin.
The effects of this system will be felt over the next few days in the form of continued heavy rainfall. The hurricane center said flash flooding and urban flooding is possible in southern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, southwestern Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.
WPLG-TV hurricane expert Michael Rowley said in an email to USA TODAY that by June 19, Arthur’s remains will quickly mix with the advancing cold front as the remaining circulation heads eastward through Georgia and the Carolinas toward the western Atlantic Ocean.
“If it emerges off the coast of the Carolinas late Friday (June 19) into early Saturday (June 20), it could attempt to re-develop in the western Atlantic Ocean,” Lowry said.
The wreckage of Arthur is currently considered a disturbance as it passes through the Southeast on June 18, but it is unlikely to be redeveloped in the subtropics or tropics on June 19 or June 20, the hurricane center said.
As Arthur’s wreckage moves northeast toward the Atlantic Ocean, “environmental conditions appear to be just barely suitable” for some development, the hurricane center said.
“Heavy rainfall with the potential for widespread, life-threatening flooding, regardless of development, is likely over parts of the southeastern United States over the next 1-2 days,” the center said in a statement on the morning of June 18.
A calm end to June is expected
Lowry said the Atlantic Basin is expected to calm down to close out the last few weeks of June, with no development expected elsewhere until at least the middle to late next week.
