(WFLA) — Nearly two months after hurricane season ended, a non-tropical disturbance has popped up in the Atlantic.
The National Hurricane Center was tracking a low-pressure system centered in the northwest Atlantic Ocean Monday.
In a 10:05 a.m. weather outlook, the NHC said the non-tropical system was producing “storm-force winds” about 300 miles north of Bermuda.
Forecasters said that while the system appeared to be producing thunderstorms at its center, it is stuck in a cold air mass that can slow its development.
“It is uncommon this time of year to have a tropical system develop, but it does happen from time to time,” meteorologist Amanda Holly, with Nexstar’s WLFA, said. “This is a perfect situation where a non-tropical area of low pressure associated with a cold front moved into the Atlantic waters. The system is producing showers and storms like a tropical system would, and sometimes, these systems can gain tropical characteristics if they spend enough time over those warmer waters.”
However, the NHC said the system is heading northeast into colder waters, which makes it unlikely that it will develop into a subtropical or tropical cyclone. As of Monday morning, there was a zero percent chance of development.
“Even if it did, there would be no impacts to Florida, and the impacts over the open waters would remain the same: strong winds and high seas near the storm system,” Holly said. “The last time there was a January Atlantic storm was in 2016 when Hurricane Alex formed as it moved away from the Bahamas out into the open Atlantic.”
There are 136 days left before June 1, the beginning of hurricane season.