On January 16, the National Hurricane Center issued a special Tropical Weather Outlook concerning a low-pressure area centered roughly 300 mi (480 km) north of Bermuda. The NHC noted that the low exhibited thunderstorm activity near its center, but assessed its probability of transitioning into tropical or subtropical cyclone as being near zero percent. These thunderstorms may have developed due to the combination of the cyclone's position over the Gulf Stream, where sea surface temperatures were around 68–70 °F (20–21 °C), and cold air aloft, resulting in high atmospheric instability. This tight cluster of storms was located within a broader storm system that brought snowfall to parts of coastal New England, including amounts of up to 4.5 in (110 mm) in portions of Massachusetts. Designated by the NHC as Invest 90L, the storm prompted Environment Canada to issue wind warnings for parts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as the storm approached the Cabot Strait. The system moved ashore eastern Nova Scotia as a slightly weaker storm on the morning of January 17. Meteorologist Rick Knabb, former director of the NHC, noted that the system may have been a subtropical cyclone.
