Tropical Storm Lisa (2016)

Tropical Storm Lisa was a tiny tropical cyclone. In fact, it was the smallest tropical cyclone on record, with tropical storm-force winds extending a maximum of 8 miles from its center. The twelfth storm of the active 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, Lisa originated from a subtropical cyclone southeast of Delmarva.

Meteorological History
On September 10th, the tail end of an extratropical cyclone detached from the rest of the system and drifted south towards the Bahamas. Turning back to the north on September 11th, the small area of low pressure became better organized as thunderstorm activity began to build around its core. The NHC upgraded the system to Subtropical Depression Twelve at 18:00 UTC as convection continued increasing and the system became better organized.

By September 12th, the subtropical depression was pushed into the Gulf Stream by a surface trough. It began to gradually strengthen and shed its subtropical characteristics. By 10:00 UTC that day, a reconnaissance flight reported that the system was fully tropical with winds of 40 miles per hour, and the NHC upgraded it to Tropical Storm Lisa within the next hour. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream fed Lisa with moisture, but as it curved away from the current, Lisa had only strengthened slightly, reaching peak intensity on September 13th while around 60 miles off the coast of the Outer Banks. Conditions along the coastline began to deteriorate as Lisa swiftly turned northwest towards the Chesapeake Bay. Scattered showers and thunderstorms persisted in the Outer Banks for at least 8 hours as rough surf caused some beach erosion across the North Carolina and Virginia coastlines. Coming within 6 miles of Ocean City, MD, on September 14th, Lisa brought heavy rain and thunderstorms across the area. A small tornadic waterspout was spotted off 28th street at 10:00 EST. The waterspout, of approximately EF0 intensity, dissipated before moving onshore. Minor damage to the boardwalk was reported as the swift-moving storm moved up the coast.

By early September 16th, northeast of New Jersey, Lisa began to encounter cold water temperatures as it approached New England. It was quickly losing its tropical characteristics. Drifting northeast at nearly 70 miles per hour, Lisa became a post-tropical cyclone at 20:00 UTC that day while slightly south of Nova Scotia. The storm's nearly unrecognizable remnants continued northeastward for almost 2 more days before they dissipated over Greenland on September 18th.