Despite the fact that cooler conditions are settling in across most of the country, tropical season is still alive and well in the Atlantic Ocean. Our newest storm formed on Wednesday afternoon and its name is Otto. This storm does have some differences compared to its predecessors earlier this year.

Otto is what we call a subtropical storm. This simply means that it has some characteristics of a tropical system and some characteristics of a non-tropical system. Subtropical storms become increasingly common late in the tropical season, especially in the months of October and November. They are also common early in the season, like in late May or early June. Regardless of whether a storm is tropical or subtropical, the end results are usually the same. Gusty winds and squally weather accompany these systems. Sometimes they can turn into true tropical systems and sometimes they don't.

The good news with subtropical storm Otto is that it will make a sharp east turn and head out into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It will bring some unsettled weather to the Bahamas in the short term, but by Friday, Otto will be an interest only to the shipping lanes of the Atlantic.

Otto marks the 15th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Over the past ten years, we have made it this far down the list five of those years. Hurricane season runs through the end of November, with tropical activity after the first week of November becoming increasingly rare.

Any questions about the tropics? Post them here and I'll answer...Let's get the discussion going!

Brantley