The vigorous, formerly nontropical gale center we have been watching for the past few days, has acquired enough tropical characteristics to be upgraded to Tropical Storm Chris, the third named storm of this active and early start to the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Chris is currently estimated to have maximum sustained winds of about 40 knots, same as yesterday. While there is still some time for Chris to strengthen further, water temps are only marginal, and Chris remains relatively colocated with its parent upper level low, both of which should serve to put limits to intensification.

As of 4:30PM EDT today, Chris is located near 39N 58W, many hundreds of miles east of New Jersey, and is moving to the southeast. This direction is forecast to end perhaps later today or tomorrow, with the cyclone then continuing on to the east-northeast, performing a loop along the way, to ultimately approach England in whatever incarnation is left of "Chris" at that time.

While it is noteworthy that 2012 has had a far more rapid start to things than even the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season, when we were still only on "Arlene" by this date, early starts generally do not necessarily equate with hyperactive seasons, overall.