ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- It's early January, and the tropics are active?
Yes, that's right: The National Hurricane Center is watching an area of disturbed weather some 1,300 miles away from the tip of the Baja California peninsula in the Pacific Ocean.
It's far, far away from any land.
The system is interesting enough, however, for forecasters to give it a 50-percent chance of tropical or subtropical cyclone development sometime between now and early next week.
Even if the mess of weather doesn't organize, forecasters expect gale-force winds over the open sea.
Weather computer models beyond five or so days show the system fizzling out into just a mere memory.
It's very rare for tropical systems to develop during the off-season, especially in January. Hurricane Pali reached Category 2 strength in January 2016 in the Pacific Ocean, and the last early-year system before that formed in 1992.
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