Ugliest storms ever

[AlphaToOmega]

You would be forgiven for not thinking this is fully tropical. In reality, this was a Category III hurricane.

[Ubuntwo]

You would be forgiven for not thinking this is fully tropical. In reality, this was a Category III hurricane.
https://i.postimg.cc/rsrvXM8t/800px-Epsilon-2020-10-21-1930-Z.jpg

Epsilon looks stately tropical and definitely not ugly

[InfernoFlameCat]

You would be forgiven for not thinking this is fully tropical. In reality, this was a Category III hurricane.
https://i.postimg.cc/rsrvXM8t/800px-Epsilon-2020-10-21-1930-Z.jpg

I feel like you just grabbed the most attractive person you could find and said, here this thing is ugly . IMO the ugliest major was Delta. Looked like a blob at Cat 4.

[Teban54]

You would be forgiven for not thinking this is fully tropical. In reality, this was a Category III hurricane.
https://i.postimg.cc/rsrvXM8t/800px-Epsilon-2020-10-21-1930-Z.jpg

Hey Epsilon was amazing, especially if you have a zoomed out image with the extratropical-like tail. Easily the best-looking storm of 2020 in my book, and that's ahead of all the intense Cat 4s.

[aspen]

You would be forgiven for not thinking this is fully tropical. In reality, this was a Category III hurricane.
https://i.postimg.cc/rsrvXM8t/800px-Epsilon-2020-10-21-1930-Z.jpg

Don’t be dissing on Epsilon like that. The combo of a massive extra tropical cyclone with a tiny Cat 3 in the middle was gorgeous and probably something we won’t see again for many years. That structure was also why Epsilon got to Cat 3 intensity: its parent cyclone acted as a womb, giving it a perfect UL environment.

[Category5Kaiju]

You would be forgiven if you did not believe that this was a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds.



You would also be forgiven if you did not believe that this was a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds.

[supercane4867]

Counterpoint: Epsilon 2020 was the most beautiful meteorological cyclone of the entire satellite era.

[Teban54]

Since people are talking about possibly underestimated storms that could have been Cat 5s in the other thread, I would like to go the opposite direction and suggest Lorenzo 2019 as one of the least picturesque Cat 5s:

Not trying to argue its intensity was overestimated here since it had Dvorak support, and achieving that intensity so far east was quite impressive (easternmost Cat 5 on record in fact). But still, this picture alone definitely wouldn't make me believe it's a Cat 5, especially when compared to storms like Igor '10, Jose '17 and Edouard '96.

[tolakram]

That thing that hit the NE this year

Henri 2021

https://s9.gifyu.com/images/540px-Henri_2021-08-21_1805Z.jpg

Same name, but in 1979

https://s9.gifyu.com/images/720px-Henri_1979-09-17_2100Z.jpg

Henri 2021 was really neat looking, with the proto eyewall visible in that pic. No way is that ugly.

[Iceresistance]

You would be forgiven if you did not believe that this was a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Delta_2020-10-06_1330Z.png/800px-Delta_2020-10-06_1330Z.png

You would also be forgiven if you did not believe that this was a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Omar_2008-10-16.jpg

If you look closely, Delta had the extremely small Pinhole Eye, it was mostly obscured by the Explosive Convection . . .

[NotSparta]

You would be forgiven for not thinking this is fully tropical. In reality, this was a Category III hurricane.
https://i.postimg.cc/rsrvXM8t/800px-Epsilon-2020-10-21-1930-Z.jpg

Huh? If Epsilon belongs here so does the majority of 2020's activity. Epsilon was one of the better looking storms that season

[Iceresistance]

You will be forgiven when you say that this was a Very Weak Tropical Storm, but this was a CAT 1 Hurricane looking like this . . .

[InfernoFlameCat]

You will be forgiven when you say that this was a Very Weak Tropical Storm, but this was a CAT 1 Hurricane looking like this . . .

https://s9.gifyu.com/images/540px-Hortense_1984-09-25_1830Z.png

I have seen tropical depressions look better than that.

[Iceresistance]

At Peak Intensity, as a CAT 1 Hurricane (Dennis 1981)

[InfernoFlameCat]

Paulette when it first became a hurricane.

[Iceresistance]

How was this even a Tropical Cyclone!?

(TS Phyllis, 1981 Pacific Typhoon Season)

[Zonacane]

You would be forgiven if you did not believe that this was a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Delta_2020-10-06_1330Z.png/800px-Delta_2020-10-06_1330Z.png

You would also be forgiven if you did not believe that this was a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Omar_2008-10-16.jpg

Honestly, Delta's inner core looks nasty there

[Ptarmigan]

You would be forgiven for not thinking this is fully tropical. In reality, this was a Category III hurricane.
https://i.postimg.cc/rsrvXM8t/800px-Epsilon-2020-10-21-1930-Z.jpg

Looks like a cross betweeen hurricane and extratropical storm.

[Shell Mound]

Add Odette to the compendium.

[Teban54]

Tropical Storm Odette 2021, reposted from its own thread, credits to Sciencerocks: