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because it hasn't become a full-fledged tropical cyclone ( "cyclone" meaning either a tropical depression, tropical or subtropical storm, or a hurricane) yet.
I had to go look up this term "Potential Tropical Cyclone" because as a long-time weather hobbyist, I had never heard it used before and just found out that this was because they first implemented that product in 2017. Even since then, I don't recall them ever designating anything as that (unless it happened during some brief/interim period just before the system was designated a "TD" (tropical depression)). They basically left the "red X" out there on their map with an estimated probability for formation of some recognizable storm type, and called it a day, until they designated it a TD or TS (tropical storm), etc.
I suppose it makes it easier to call it "something" when it is somewhat organized and has potential for a moderate - severe impact that it can cause, or is causing in an area. They often would call remnants that looked like that, a "tropical rain storm" (although those could cause major flooding).
I think that is probably the remnants of that Pacific hurricane Agatha that slammed into Mexico and they theoretically are supposed to maintain system names if something crossed over into the Gulf or Atlantic basin from the Pacific and completely reformed again. But since this hasn't met all the criteria, I suppose they felt Agatha completely dissipated and a new system formed, sortof primed by what was left of Agatha.
(sorry getting geek)
I had just never heard that term used before. They did call it a "tropical wave" (a term that I've heard before) before it expanded itself.
We get "remnants" of those systems up here in Philly and the remnants can be as bad as the actual storms. And I know about the damage of these seemingly "benign" storms that produce a lot of rain and uproots trees.
I hope that tree didn't do major (or any) damage to your roof.
So when the wind gust came along it blew the tree right to the side and onto the roof of our house. I just finished talking to the neighbors and he said once it calms down a little he’s going to cut it down and take care of it. He works in construction so he has the tools. Oddly, I’ve lived in Florida for 40 years and I’ve seen these types of storms do the craziest damage, sometimes worse than category ones or twos. 
I expect the water table there is normally high anyway, so it doesn't take much to water-log.
The excessive rain storms can be just as bad as high-wind storms because it only takes a little wind to blow something over that is in completely saturated/flooded soil - particularly the surface rooting trees.
At least you had someone with the chainsaws to make quick work of it. 
And the reality of "Alex." Glad the damage isn't too bad, Tavernier. I have a book about trees shown to withstand Florida's "events," and not. I don't imagine many that don't do that great were standing in the Keys, and now this survivor finally went over.
(the two hobbies of weather and gardening obviously interrelate ) I know that there are many "northern transplants" in FL and I expect newer landscaping was often done for aesthetics vs what naturally grew there that adapted over millennia to the conditions - like the Longleaf Pine (which evolved to handle the annual winter wildfires that you don't hear about much that happens in FL but DO happen), the Live Oak, and the Bald Cypress, that could better handle some of the conditions...
I ended up learning about the Longleaf Pine because when one of my sisters moved into her current home almost 20 years ago, the previous owner had one planted in the front, and that was certainly WAY WAY out of its natural growing range up here in SE PA, but there it was, and it is still alive and kicking (thanks to climate change). That particular tree starts the first 7 years of life looking like a "tuft of grass", then shoots up a tall narrow trunk that goes bare at the bottom, and can resist the brush and wildfires.
Our place in central FL is surrounded by swamp, and so we have P. elliottii, which are very pretty and also drop their lower branches, but I think I read that longleafs are more hurricane resistant.
"Interrelation" in this era seems like a perfect storm of interrelationability! Last year, I finally donated at least several hundred gardening-related books, mostly temperate and Mediterranean plant and decorative gardening related, that are still nice but suffering from obsolescence due to climate change factors. I collected and enjoyed them over some decades; hopefully, there will be degrees of recovery someday and future generations of gardeners will find this kind of information and inspiration from the past more special than ever.
My sister's longleaf was maybe 10 ft - 12 ft tall when she moved there and has to be about 25 ft now (above well above her 2-story house).
I keep talking myself out of getting a copy (electronic at this point) of Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. 
and that was my "garden book". I think one of my sisters may have it and it was falling apart a bit but was well-used and had lots of underlining in it. It was probably one of the printings done in the early 60s but I think it was first published in the '30s or '40s.
especially in its era. I rushed to get Dirr's on moving to GA because Dirr worked and gardened in GA, and of course where authors live and garden has a huge impact. Downright heinous when it's not disclosed -- I learned to make it the first thing to look for on picking up a book.
I lived in SoCal before, and comparatively very few gardening books were ever by CA authors. The vast majority of books I found in English were by authors from the NE states, like Taylor, and of course the British Isles.
Reminds me that the Sunset Western Garden Book publisher, with its fabulous, and fabulously needed, wealth of information about gardening in many climate zones throughout the western states, kept secret that someone heavily involved in compiling it (no longer remember who) gardened and trialed in our part of SoCal, with descriptions often especially accurate and detailed for local Med climate. Over time, the "Western Garden" book spread to gardeners in Mediterranean climates around the planet.
That's a shame, but understandable if it's become too changeable and existing info keeps being no longer valid.
Zone mapping for SoCal and probably much of California was much more detailed, I don't remember how many, but probably at least a dozen zones in SoCal. I could follow the boundaries around our area and see where elevation changes and so on created noticeable differences. Descanso Gardens, right down the bottom of the valley from us, had warmer winter temps than us on a mountain slope.
We thought the weather was changeable last century. Maybe we'll see development of extreme gardening, like extreme sports, in this one. Strictly for those inclined of course.
The Orlando Sentinel says the storm heading offshore now is still "Potential Tropical Cyclone One." Tell that to Tavernier.
and old links go to new Sunset pages that talk about it but don't have any link to add a zip, etc. Since here on the east coast, the zones were a little broader, I don't expect it to have changed as much. I do remember the nightmare when USDA was trying to update their map and then it got politicized, but finally got issued under Obama, I think in 2012 (and covered more years).
And yeah, during the season, I usually keep NHC in a tab with their list of systems. I am surprised that thing hasn't at least been considered a Tropical Depression.
Go away anyway
He can just use a sharpie to change the path of the storm to go around the state!
