The National Hurricane Center is watching a swirl of clouds off the coast of North Carolina for signs of development. It is currently an extratropical storm, but because it is over warm water it could develop some tropical characteristics and might gain enough strength to gain a name. If it did, it would be called Subtropical Storm Alex. Last year, we had a subtropical storm named Ana, but it did not develop until May.
The weather community is buzzing about this! You can read about it in Forbes from Marshall Shepherd, UGA here and from CBS12 news here. The chance of development is only 30% so it might not happen, but it does illustrate that the ocean this year has been very warm. The Pacific is also active this year, with a storm developing west of Hawaii in the central Pacific. 2016 will definitely be a year to watch in the tropics!
