Hurricane Florence Joins the Ranks of Weirdest Hurricane and Tropical Storm Tracks

Many hurricanes follow very clear tracks, for example, a curve around the south and west sides of the Bermuda-Azores high in the Atlantic Basin, or just a straight buzzsaw through the Caribbean Sea.

In these cases, the atmosphere's steering flow is strong and persistent enough to keep the hurricane on a steady path. Forecast tracks of those are, relatively straightforward.

Then, you have others like Florence.

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In September's first week, Florence was in a spot that's typically far enough north for a hurricane to curve out to sea and not impact the United States. In fact, no tropical storm or hurricane in recorded history has passed within 100 miles of Florence's location on Sept. 7 and still made a United States landfall.

An abrupt halt in Florence's forward movement occurred near the coast of North Carolina. From there, Florence turned west and west-southwest while moving at a snail's pace. That has contributed to devastating flooding in parts of southeast North Carolina.

Both the slowing forward speed and the change in Florence's direction of movement have put another wrinkle in its already odd track history.

Florence has company when it comes to tropical storms or hurricanes moving on an atypical path.

Hurricane Harvey from last year is one recent example. It stalled just inland from the Texas coast and then moved back over the Gulf of Mexico before making a final landfall as a tropical storm in Louisiana over the course of several days.

In the slideshow below you can see 16 other weird tracks we found since the era of routine satellite coverage of the Atlantic Basin began in 1966.

Most importantly, these unusual paths can be a big forecast challenge. Subtle changes in steering winds aloft can mean the difference between a hurricane drifting west toward land or drifting northeast, remaining out to sea.