Tropical Storm Paula (2016-New Version)

Tropical Storm Paula was an unusual post-season tropical cyclone that formed in the Caribbean Sea in December 2016.

Meteorological History
On November 28, the final tropical wave of the season exited the coast of Africa. The wave tracked westward at a low latitude, struggling to develop any deep convection due to cool sea surface temperatures and dry air from the Saharan Air Layer. On December 5, the poorly defined wave entered the Caribbean Sea and continued to slowly move westward. Some isolated convection began to develop on December 8, but it struggled to organize due to strong wind shear typical for the time of year. The next day, a surface low pressure area developed, and convection deepened. On December 10 at 15:00 UTC, the NHC initiated advisories on Tropical Depression Seventeen after a reconnaissance aircraft identified a well-defined center of circulation. The disorganized depression strengthened slightly the next day, strengthening into Tropical Storm Paula. As Paula moved into cooler waters, its cloud pattern became increasingly asymmetric and convection became limited, with the remaining convection being sheared away from the center. As a result, on December 11 Paula was reclassified as a subtropical cyclone, and acquired its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and a minimum pressure of 998 mbar. On December 12, Paula developed frontal characteristics as it entered the Gulf Of Mexico and was reclassified as an extratropical cyclone.