at this time, though it would have likely been considered subtropical beginning in the early 1970s. Hurricane Able The origins of the first hurricane of the season were from a trough that exited the East Coast of the United States on May 12. A low-pressure area developed on May 14, and two days later it developed into a tropical cyclone about south of Bermuda. It formed beneath an upper-level low, and initially was not fully tropical. The depression followed the low, initially toward the northwest and later the southwest. Moving over the Gulf Stream, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Able on May 16. The storm turned to the south, and Hurricane Hunters reported that Able strengthened to hurricane status on May 17 off the coast of Florida. The outer rainbands of Able produced light rainfall and high seas along the Florida coastline. It later moved through the northern Bahamas early on May 18, where it produced hurricane-force winds of . The hurricane later turned to the north, gradually strengthening through May 21. Shortly thereafter, Able passed about east of Cape Hatteras before turning east and reaching its peak of early on May 22. Along the coast, the hurricane produced high tides but little damage. Able maintained hurricane intensity for two more days before weakening to a tropical storm early on May 24. Able rapidly dissipated that same day, though originally it was assessed as having evolved into an extratropical cyclone on May 23. Until 2015, Able was listed as having peak winds of and was analyzed to have been the earliest major hurricane on record. Such a storm would be a Category 3 or greater on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, a system developed and introduced in the 1970s. Able was also the strongest hurricane outside of the current hurricane season (June 1 through November 30). However, reanalysis by scientists in 2015 determined that Able was in fact far weaker than originally listed in HURDAT, the official database containing information on storm tracks and intensities in the Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific regions. It also lost its distinction as the strongest preseason cyclone on record, the record being held by a Category 2 hurricane in March 1908. The hurricane was one of four North Atlantic hurricanes on record to exist during the month of May, the others occurring in 1889, 1908, and 1970. Tropical Storm Baker On August 2, an