Tropical Storm Claudette: 5 Unusual Things to Know About This Storm

The journey of Tropical Storm Claudette from the Gulf of Mexico to the Carolinas was an uncommon one, to say the least. In the wake of the dissipation of Claudette over the Atlantic Ocean on Monday evening. Here are five unusual things about Tropical Storm Claudette.

Claudette first became a tropical storm on land over Louisiana

Almost all tropical storms form over the ocean, where warm waters and adequate moisture aid in generating the cyclones. Claudette started its journey as a tropical disruption in the southern Gulf of Mexico and was appointed as a Potential Tropical Cyclone as it propelled nearer to the Louisiana coastline.

However, Claudette did not get a clear circulation until it moved over land, something that is very unusual. Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist offered some chances as to how the storm developed over land.

Claudette Intensified into a tropical storm over the Carolinas

After developing into a tropical storm over Louisiana, Claudette diminished to a tropical depression over Alabama. The quirky forecast of the storm called for it to turn into a tropical storm while over land once more, and it did exactly that when it got to that status close by Greenville, North Carolina, on Monday.

Claudette Created an EF2 tornado in Alabama

It is usual for tropical storms or hurricanes to form tornadoes, but one tornado brought about by Claudette was unusual for its strength.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Senior Randy Adkins explained: "The extensive majority of tropical systems that make landfall produce one tornado (and usually more than one) at least."

Adkins added that observations since 1950 gave an indication that tornadoes connected with tropical systems tend to be of lesser intensity than average, and this is probably because of less atmospheric instability, less increasing motion within the environment that produces tornado.

Claudette has killed not less than 13 people

Claudette has been an unusually dangerous storm for its strength. The storm took the lives of at least 13 people in Alabama, The Associated Press reported. Ten people, together with eight kids in a youth home for abused or mistreated children, were killed in a multi-car accident that was blamed on hydroplaning because of wet roads from Claudette.

The other three were killed by the storm, including a young 24-year-old boy and a 3-year-old boy, after a tree collapsed on their home close to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and a 23-year-old woman who lost her life when her car ran off the roadway into a swollen creek in DeKalb County.

Claudette formed ahead of schedule

Following a current trend in the Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Claudette developed well prior to the historical forming of the third-named storm of Atlantic Hurricane Season. According to the National Hurricane Center, the third-named system is anticipated to take place around Aug. 13.

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