Beryl Adds to Mix of Weather Oddities

Weather is on the mind even more so than usual for folks living in the tropics this Memorial Day holiday weekend, with expectations Subtropical Storm Beryl will strike the northern Florida or George coastline Sunday night or Monday morning.

News in the tropics adds to an already interesting account of just how off-beat this year's weather has been. According to a May 22 report by The Weather Channel, the oddities include these tropical developments:

• The first time in recorded history named storms developed before the official start of the seasons in both the eastern Pacific and Atlantic basins.

• Tropical Storm Aletta formed May 14 in the Pacific basin, the third system since 1971 to form before the May 15 start date.

• Tropical Storm Alberto formed May 19 in the Atlantic basin, becoming the earliest-forming tropical storm in the Atlantic since 2003, when Ana developed in April. The Atlantic season starts June 1.

• Tropical Storm Bud developed in the eastern Pacific on May 22, which became the earliest date on record for the second named storm in that basin. 

Further weather oddities noted include:

• The third highest number of tornadoes on record in January, dating back to 1950.

• The fourth warmest winter on record, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dating back to the 1890's, the winters on record that were warmer started 1991, 1998 and 1999.

• More than 90 cities set a new record-high temperature in March, including, in Florida, Tampa and Sarasota.

• One of the largest tornado outbreaks in March history struck in the south and Ohio Valley on March 2-3.

• Combined, the first four months of the year are the warmest on record, with some cities in the Midwest reporting a warmer March than April, "a very rare event."