CLEVELAND — So, you might be wondering why you should care about tropical storms way down in the Gulf or off the southeastern coast. I mean, we’re talking hundreds of miles away, right? Well —surprise! — those big swirling systems can absolutely mess with our weather up here, even if we’re nowhere near the beach.

Here’s the science scoop:

When a tropical storm or hurricane forms in the Gulf or the southwestern Atlantic, it’s basically a giant engine of heat and moisture. As that storm moves inland and weakens, it can still drag a ton of tropical air and rain with it — sometimes all the way up into the Ohio Valley. That means we can get hit with days of heavy rain, strong winds, and even flash flooding, especially if the ground's already soggy (not this year).

Even if the storm itself

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