A swirl of clouds off the Georgia coast is associated with a rare subtropical storm that formed well before the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
A springtime disturbance that moved off the southeastern coast of the United States rapidly intensified into Subtropical Storm Andrea.
The storm picked up some tropical features as it spun over the warm waters off Georgia, and was predicted to slowly drift southward off the Florida coast late in the week.
Such storms share characteristics of both middle latitude low pressure areas and tropical storms, but high winds often occur much farther from the center than in tropical storms.
Andrea developed tropical characteristics more than two weeks before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which is predicted to be much more active than normal.
Subtropical Storm Andrea track
Photo: Earthbrowser