Near the end of May, an area of thunderstorms formed in association with a trough over the Gulf of Mexico. A circulation gradually developed as it drifted northward. On the first official day of the Atlantic hurricane season, June 1, the low was classified Tropical Depression Two. It was given the "Two" designation because of the unnamed subtropical storm that had formed in January 2023. When it first formed, the depression was colocated with an upper-level trough; this gave it a pocket of mildly favorable conditions for intensification. It took advantage and strengthened into Tropical Storm Arlene on June 2, becoming the first named storm of the season.
Atmospheric conditions quickly soured after that, however. The aforementioned trough pushed eastward, exposing the cyclone to wind shear and encroaching dry air from the west. Though the storm formed with the Gulf coast nearby to the north and east, it actually picked up steam toward the south and moved away from land, following the flow of the trough. By later that day, it began to weaken. Early on June 3, it turned east of south and diminished into a tropical depression; it became a remnant low just hours later in the southern Gulf of Mexico adjacent to Cuba.
Arlene peaked as a weak tropical storm before being quickly snuffed out by dry air and unfavorable wind shear.
Arlene's southward track was somewhat unusual; it did not affect land during its brief lifetime.
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