JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Just because it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, does not necessarily mean it's a duck.
Such is the case with the storm system that pummeled Miami Wednesday into Thursday.
It had tropical storm-force winds, flooding rain, and tidal surges that caused widespread damage and power outages across Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
The weather was so bad that Broward County canceled school for Thursday.
However, despite its tropical strength, this system was not a tropical storm. It was baroclinic, meaning it was a low-pressure system that formed along a frontal boundary between two air masses.
These types of systems are referred to as "mesolow" pressure systems.
Miami accumulated 7.49 inches of rain Wednesday, which is the wettest day there in the last 11 years.
Wind gusts between 50-70 mph knocked power out to roughly 60,000 people in Miami as well.
This system will continue to move up the east coast, and the fringes of it are what is bringing rain to the First Coast and Southeast Georgia Thursday. However, a cold front will continue to push the system away from Jacksonville and the entire east coast, leaving us with a nice weekend ahead.