This storm was not a hurricane, but it did show some resemblances to one, and it’s not the first time that we’ve seen this.
In September 1996, an area of low pressure moved over the great lakes and produced a clear eye and eye-wall near the center of low pressure. This storm was nicknamed “Hurricane Huron,” but it was not a true hurricane despite the visual similarities.
There are differences when you compare “Hurricane Huron” to Thursday’s storm. Hurricane Huron had a low pressure of 993 millibars and a maximum sustained surface wind of 73 mph, just 1 mph shy of reaching the minimum limits to be classified as a hurricane (had it developed in the tropics).
The storm that we saw on Thursday had a low pressure of 987 mb and a maximum wind of 25 mph.
While the two storms closely resembled the look of a hurricane, neither storm was in fact a hurricane.