Hurricane Center Post-Analysis Identifies Pre-Season Tropical System

Oak Hill, WV (WOAY-TV): Even though the tropical season is still a few weeks away, the National Hurricane Center has already identified an out-of-season subtropical system.

Chief Meteorologist Chad Merrill and Forecaster Braden Petry have more:

Following the end of each season and in between the Tropical Atlantic seasons, the National Hurricane Center is busy doing post-analysis. This includes carefully reviewing archived satellite data for systems they identified as potential suspects for tropical systems.

A statement released earlier today from the National Hurricane Center has identified this low pressure that developed off the New England coast in mid-January as the first subtropical storm of the year. They deemed it a subtropical storm because it had features of a tropical system but was not fully a warm-core system. The low pressure formed several hundred miles off the New England coast and pushed deep into the North Atlantic. It did not impact land.

However, since it formed after the start of the new year, it is being considered the first storm of the 2023 season. Therefore, the next tropical depression that develops in the Atlantic basin will be given the name “Tropical Depression Two.” If it then strengthens to a tropical storm, it will be given the first name on the 2023 list, Arlene.

The same post-season analysis yielded an additional storm in the 2013 season. The report released in early 2014 identified a low pressure south of the Azores in December 2013 as a subtropical storm. This pushed the named storm count from 13 to 14 for the 2013 season.

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