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An Early Start to the 2018 Hurricane Season?

Under the right conditions, tropical systems can form outside of the traditional hurricane season.

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Hurricane season does not officially start for a couple of weeks, but the National Hurricane Center is watching an area in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1, but Mother Nature does not care about the calendar.

The hurricane center began watching an area of low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend. They give the disturbance about a 40% chance of further development over the next five days.

Even though it is early, tropical systems can and do form during the off-season. According to NOAA, 97% of the tropical activity in the Atlantic occurs between June 1 and November 30, but under the right conditions, tropical systems can form outside of the traditional hurricane season.

At least one tropical storm or hurricane has occurred during every month of the year in the Atlantic since 1851 according to the hurricane center.

Over the past six years, four hurricane seasons have featured a storm before June 1. This includes 2012, 2015, 2016 and last year.

In total, there have been at least 80 recorded off-season tropical systems in the Atlantic, with 49 of those having occurred in the month of May.

Last year's very busy tropical season started even earlier though, Tropical Storm Arlene was born on April 19 in the central Atlantic.

Related Coverage: South Carolina Hurricane Guide to be Released

Regardless if the low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico turns into something or not, it will increase the moisture across the southeast. This will bring some much-needed rain to parts of the area, including to us here in the Midlands.

One of the strongest off-season tropical systems recorded was Hurricane Amanda in May of 1863, it was Category 2 storm with winds of 105 mph when it struck the panhandle of Florida.

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