Subtropical Storm Andrea Forms off SE Coast 3 Weeks Before Official Start of Hurricane Season
AP / MSNBC
But Andrea's formation follows predictions that 2007 will be an active year.
Private and university forecasters have predicted that the 2007 season that starts June 1 and ends Nov. 30 will be especially active, producing up to 17 tropical storms and hurricanes and a "well above average" possibility of at least one striking the U.S. The federal government plans to release its predictions May 22.
Subtropical systems are hybrid weather formations that are usually weaker than hurricanes and tropical storms. They share characteristics of tropical systems, which get their power from warm ocean waters at their centers, and more typical bad weather that forms when warm and cold fronts collide.
"It's kind of a half-breed," Pasch said.
Forecasters said Andrea has the warm center characteristic of tropical storms but its core is not particularly well defined.
Large storms do sometimes form before or after what the hurricane center calls the June-November season.
Eighteen tropical storms and four hurricanes have been recorded in May since 1851. The earliest hurricane to strike the U.S. was Alma in northwest Florida on June 9, 1966.
The Atlantic basin has been in a busy period for hurricanes since 1995. Some federal forecasters believe this is part of a natural cycle. But the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.N.-sponsored group, says global warming caused by humans has led to an increase in stronger hurricanes.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
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