While the science of predicting paths of tropical storms and hurricanes is more accurate than ever, according to Dr. Jeff Masters, co-founder of Weather Underground, some storms can travel odd-looking paths. They wobble, dip and dive, sometimes making a U-turn and track over an area twice, ultimately leaving behind a wacky pattern.
These loopy tracks are a reminder of the unpredictability of weather, and it happens nearly every year, says Michael Lowry, hurricane specialist at The Weather Channel.
"It usually occurs because of a weak steering environment," Lowry said. "If you don't have strong high pressure and a weakness (lack of upper-level steering winds) develops, you can get a storm that stalls or changes direction."
A tropical system doesn't have to shift dramatically to cause headaches. Any shimmy can change preparations for residents living in the path of a storm, making it crucial for meteorologists to catch every sway of the storm.
Weather forecasting models frequently spot changes in direction days ahead of time, Lowry said, further stressing the importance of competitive systems like the NOAA supercomputer that received a major overhaul last week.
We dig into the archives to bring you the 15 strangest-looking storm paths we could find from the last 20 years. Check them out in our slideshow above, compiled by weather.com meteorologists Jonathan Erdman and Chris Dolce.
MORE ON WEATHER.COM: 20 Amazing Hurricane Images