What is the difference between a tropical storm and a sub tropical storm?

Question

I was just watching the weather channel and they already have andrea in the atlantic ocean? They said it is a sub tropical storm. And i read the water has to be warm for tropical storms to form, the water temp is in the upper 50s and lower 60s. How is this even possible.

Answer 1

A tropical storm is an organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds between 17 and 32 m/s (34–63 kt, 39–73 mph, or 62–117 km/h). At this point, the distinctive cyclonic shape starts to develop, although an eye is not usually present. Government weather services, other than the Philippines, first assign names to systems that reach this intensity (thus the term named storm).[

A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of a tropical cyclone and some characteristics of an extratropical cyclone. They can form in a wide band of latitude, from the equator to 50°.
These storms can have maximum winds extending further from the centre than in a purely tropical cyclone. The maximum recorded wind speed for a subtropical storm is 33 m/s (119 km/h, 65 knots, or 74 mph), also the minimum for a hurricane. In the Atlantic Basin, the United States NOAA classifies subtropical cyclones similar to their tropical cousins, based on maximum sustained surface winds. Those with winds below 18 m/s, 65 km/h, 35 kts, or 39 MPH are called subtropical depressions, while those at or above this velocity are referred to as subtropical storms.[3]

Subtropical cyclones are also more likely than tropical cyclones to form outside of a region's designated hurricane season. Subtropical Storm Ana (which became Tropical Storm Ana) in mid-April of the 2003 hurricane season is such a case.

Answer 2

Subtropical Storm: A subtropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind speed (using the U.S. 1-minute average) is 34 kt (39 mph or 63 km/hr) or more. A non-frontal low pressure system that has characteristics of both tropical and extratropical cyclones. The most common type is an upper-level cold low with circulation extending to the surface layer and maximum sustained winds generally occurring at a radius of about 100 miles or more from the center. In comparison to tropical cyclones, such systems have a relatively broad zone of maximum winds that is located farther from the center, and typically have a less symmetric wind field and distribution of convection. A second type of subtropical cyclone is a mesoscale low originating in or near a frontolyzing zone of horizontal wind shear, with radius of maximum sustained winds generally less than 30 miles. The entire circulation may initially have a diameter of less than 100 miles. These generally short-lived systems may be either cold core or warm core. Tropical Storm: A tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind speed (using the U.S. 1-minute average) ranges from 34 kt (39 mph or 63 km/hr) to 63 kt (73 mph or 118 km/hr).A warm-core non-frontal synoptic-scale cyclone, originating over tropical or subtropical waters, with organized deep convection and a closed surface wind circulation about a well-defined center. Once formed, a tropical cyclone is maintained by the extraction of heat energy from the ocean at high temperature and heat export at the low temperatures of the upper troposphere. In this they differ from extratropical cyclones, which derive their energy from horizontal temperature contrasts in the atmosphere (baroclinic effects).

Answer 3

Sub tropical means it has some but not all tropical charictaricts Andrea is sub tropical. Subtropical storms are cold core Purley tropical storms are warm core

Answer 4

according to several different weather sites it has to do with wind speed and where they form. subtropical storms are not given names

Subtropical - A non-frontal, yet non-tropical cyclone which forms over the subtropical waters

Tropical - An intense area of low pressure which forms in the tropics and has sustained winds of at 39 to 73 miles per hour (34 to 63 knots). Once a tropical storm forms, it is given a name.

Answer 5

To answer simply, sub-tropical is cold is nature (it's atmosphere) and tropical storms are warm in nature. Typically sub tropical storms are not named but there are some that occasionally are. For more information if you'd like to know more about sub-tropical storms and how they develop and that they can develop into tropical storms see my source below. By the way our currect sub-tropical storm off the east coast is named Andrea...

http://www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical/index.html?from=secondarynav

Answer 6

Subtropical Cyclone