{ { Infobox weather event/Footer
| season = 1996 Atlantic hurricane season(unofficially) }}
The 1996 Lake Huron cyclone, commonly referred to as Hurricane Huron and Hurroncane''', was an extremely rare, strong cyclonic storm system that developed over Lake Huron in September 1996. The system resembled a subtropical cyclone at its peak, bearing some characteristics of a tropical cyclone. It was the first time such a storm has ever been recorded forming over the Great Lakes region.
Overview of tropical storms in the Great Lakes region
The Great Lakes region has experienced the remnants of several hurricanes, most commonly those which originally made U.S. landfall along the Gulf of Mexico. Very few such storms have retained any tropical characteristics by the time they reached the Great Lakes. In general, the strongest of these storms resulted from interactions between a hurricane remnant and an extratropical weather system. Only two such storms had hurricane-force winds over the Great Lakes.
After merging with a strong cold front, the remnant of the 1941 Texas hurricane had hurricane-force winds over Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, with steady winds of reported over Detroit. Half of the resulting deaths occurred in Toronto, and many injuries resulted from windows blown out in Detroit. Although the center of the storm was tracked over Chicago and other highly populated areas, no other inland region reported similar damage. Similar to the 1996 Lake Huron cyclone, the 1941 hurricane tracked over the Great Lakes in September, when the lakes are at their warmest.
Hurricane Hazel entered the Great Lakes region as an extratropical storm just west of Toronto. The storm had lost most of its intensity after tracking over inland. However, the remnant interacted with a trough just south of Lake Erie, resulting in explosive strengthening as it entered the Great Lakes region. Hurricane Hazel was an October storm with winds equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane by the time it reached Canada, but most of its damage was caused by extreme rainfall on already-saturated ground.
Despite not having hurricane-force winds, Hurricane Connie of 1955 is also notable as it is one of very few storms to make a tropical landfall in the Great Lakes as well.
In contrast, the 1996 Lake Huron cyclone developed tropical characteristics over the Great Lakes region completely independent of precursor tropical cyclones. This makes it unique among Great Lakes storms.
Meteorological history
On September 11, 1996, a weak low-pressure area was situated close to Lake Superior, as well as a shortwave trough over Ontario. The storm was centered over Lake Michigan, and its central pressure was . The northwest tilt of the low in the atmosphere indicated that the surface center was strengthening, due to baroclinic forcing. In addition to this, analyses of the atmosphere concluded that the cyclone's circulation extended into the upper troposphere.
The cyclone's overall strength increased dramatically while meandering over the Great Lakes, with surface sustained winds building from . By September 12, the cyclone had been steered by a cold front to a position over Lake Huron, with the cyclone's upper-level circulation centered to the west, over Michigan. During this 24-hour period, the cyclone's central pressure fell from . After 12:00 UTC on September 12, the low moved southeastward and became more vertically organized.
The cyclone briefly passed over Lake Huron as it proceeded southeastward. The cyclone's lower levels experienced the highest intensification. As the cyclone's component layers were well-stacked, the storm was ripe for development. Eventually, the cold front to the north, which was connected to the surface low, became an occluded front, as it entangled with the surface warm front. The occluded front extended from Lake Huron to Pennsylvania on September 13. A swath of showers and thunderstorms was positioned across the area. More showers were centered near the occluded low.