Hurricane Oscar, which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm over Cuba, is being reported as the smallest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, according to meteorologists on Monday.

When Oscar first formed on Saturday, hurricane hunters discovered that the storm’s hurricane wind field spanned only 5 to 6 miles.

“This makes Oscar not only the smallest hurricane of the 2024 season but also the smallest hurricane ever documented, with records of hurricane wind fields dating back to the mid-1960s,” said Michael Lowry, a meteorologist at WPLG-TV, emphasizing that such diminutive hurricanes are “incredibly rare.”

According to historical data, Oscar is the first hurricane known to have hurricane-force winds covering less than 11.5 miles, he added.

Detection Difficulties Due to Small Size

The Weather Network explained that Oscar’s compact size allowed it to go undetected by satellites, initially confusing many weather models. Forecasters did not realize its true strength until a hurricane hunter aircraft flew into the storm’s center.

“Even our most advanced global forecasting models, such as the frequently referenced European model, struggle to detect weather phenomena smaller than 5 or 6 miles,” Lowry noted in his blog on Monday. “This is why they fail to predict individual tornadoes, only the general conditions that could lead to significant tornadoes, so it’s understandable why they overlooked Oscar.”

Before Oscar, the record for the smallest Atlantic storm was held by Tropical Storm Marco, which occurred in 2008, according to the Weather Network.

Oscar’s Strength

While Oscar officially reached Category 1 status this past weekend, “high-resolution wind estimates from low-earth orbit Canadian satellites indicated it may have actually been as powerful as a Category 2 or 3 hurricane before it made landfall at the eastern tip of Cuba Sunday evening,” Lowry stated.

Oscar’s Ongoing Impact

As the week progresses, heavy rain from Oscar is anticipated to cause serious, potentially life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides in eastern Cuba, according to the National Hurricane Center. “Additionally, localized flash flooding could occur in parts of the southeastern Bahamas,” they warned.

In the United States, powerful surf generated by Oscar may reach East Coast beaches in the upcoming days, the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida, indicated.

Oscar formed shortly after Tropical Storm Nadine, which made landfall in Belize on Saturday and dissipated over southern Mexico by Sunday, as reported by Weather.com.