Storm That Unleashed Deadly Floods in Greece Was a Rare ‘Medicane’

  • Tropical systems don’t usually form in Mediterranean
  • Storm developed eye wall like a hurricane, NOAA says

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A “rare tropical-like storm” grew in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea last week and even developed an eye wall like a hurricane, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The storm, named Numa by the Free University of Berlin’s Institute of Meteorology, had both tropical and subtropical characteristics, making it a hybrid storm. Tropical systems usually can’t get going in the Mediterranean because the sea is fairly shallow and there isn’t a lot of open water for storms to build up strength.