RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Four months after the fact, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday that we had an unnamed subtropical storm off the east coast this past January.

The storm was best visible on satellite January 15 and 16, 2023 a couple hundred miles off the Mid-Atlantic coast, but at the time the National Hurricane Center did not believe it had tropical or subtropical characteristics.

After reassessing the system from January the National Hurricane Center hurricane specialists determined that the area of low pressure off the northeast coast should be designated a subtropical storm.

The system however will not receive a name even though it will go down as the first tropical system of 2023 in the Atlantic basin. This means the next time we have a storm form it will get the name Arlene or if it is just a depression it will be tropical depression #2.

The official start of the Atlantic Hurricane season is June 1. With the exception of 2022, every year since 2015 has had pre season tropical activity.