At 19/21Z, TS Chris was located about 560 miles south southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland, moving east at 7 knots with maximum sustained winds of 40 knots. The eastward motion should continue for a couple of days followed by a turn to the northeast and eventually to the north. As noted above, little change in strength is anticipated and the storm should remain well at sea during its lifetime.

While windshear is rather light, SSTs are rather chilly - Chris will be traveling over ocean temperatures in the 23-24C range with a few pockets at 22C. Earlier today, convection finally wrapped around the well defined gale center and the system acquired enough tropical characteristics for upgrade to tropical cyclone status. The convection is shallow and tenuous but for the moment it has persisted. When the system begins to move north in a few days, transition back to an extratropical system is likely.

Chris is the third earliest 3rd storm of the season - only 1887 and 1959 had earlier dates for the third storm of the season. 1887 was a highly active season while1959 had a normal level of activity.
ED