Though they escaped virtually unscathed, Florida Panhandle residents now know the feeling Southeast Texans had two years ago.
Tropical Storm Claudette formed in hours Sunday morning in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and made landfall a half-day later along the Florida Panhandle, the Associated Press reported.
Claudette joins a unique group of storms that form and gather steam mere miles and hours from landfall. Such storms cause headaches for forecasters and emergency managers who must warn the public.
Scientists know how storms form and intensify, but what triggers rapid formation and how strong quick-forming storms will become still baffles researchers.
All tropical systems develop best in warm, moist, calm air, generally over waters that are warmer than 80 degrees.
So far this season, cool fronts have been strong enough to push toward the Gulf Coast, agitate the atmosphere and eliminate these ingredients, National Weather Service Lake Charles meteorologist John Trares said Monday.
Meteorologists always monitor such systems for development, said Trares, who spent 11 years as a National Hurricane Center meteorologist.
"The problem is that it is a very spontaneous type (of storm)," Trares said. "In other words, something 'clicks' and it's a runaway process when that happens."
The process sometimes involves - as it did with Hurricane Humberto, which hit Southeast Texas on Sept. 13, 2007, and Claudette - a stalled frontal system that loses its cool air identity over the Gulf.
Read more in Tuesday's Beaumont Enterprise.