Posted on 12/02/2005 7:47:49 AM PST by laz
I apologize for the caps, but it seems this isn't available anywhere besides NHC:
000 ABNT30 KNHC 011328 TWSAT MONTHLY TROPICAL WEATHER SUMMARY NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 8 AM EDT THU DEC 1 2005
FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...
THE 2005 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON IS THE MOST ACTIVE ON RECORD. TWENTY-SIX NAMED TROPICAL STORMS FORMED...BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 21 SET BACK IN 1993. THIRTEEN STORMS BECAME HURRICANES... BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 12 SET BACK IN 1969. SEVEN OF THE HURRICANES BECAME MAJOR HURRICANES...CATEGORY THREE OR HIGHER ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE...INCLUDING THREE...KATRINA... RITA...AND WILMA...WHICH REACHED CATEGORY FIVE INTENSITY. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1851 THAT THREE CATEGORY FIVE STORMS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO OCCUR IN A SEASON. THE SEASON ALSO INCLUDED THREE DEPRESSIONS THAT DID NOT REACH TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH.
IN CONTRAST...BASED ON THE AVERAGE FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS...IN AN AVERAGE SEASON THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN 11 NAMED STORMS...6 HURRICANES ...AND 2 MAJOR HURRICANES.
THESE NUMBERS COULD CHANGE...AS CINDY MAY BE UPGRADED TO A HURRICANE AT LANDFALL IN LOUISIANA...AND EMILY MAY HAVE BRIEFLY REACHED CATEGORY FIVE STRENGTH.
ARLENE FORMED ON 8 JUNE NEAR THE NORTHEASTERN COAST OF HONDURAS AND BECAME A TROPICAL STORM ON THE 9 JUNE ABOUT 170 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND. ARLENE MOVED SLOWLY NORTHWARD WITH STEADY INTENSIFICATION AND CROSSED WESTERN CUBA NEAR CABO CORRIENTES WITH WINDS OF 50 MPH. THE STORM CONTINUED NORTHWARD OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO WHERE IT REACHED ITS PEAK INTENSITY OF 70 MPH. THEREAFTER...ARLENE WEAKENED AND MADE LANDFALL NEAR PENSACOLA FLORIDA WITH 60 MPH WINDS. THE CYCLONE CONTINUED TO WEAKEN AS IT MOVED NORTHWARD FARTHER INLAND AND WAS ABSORBED BY A FRONTAL SYSTEM ON 14 JUNE OVER SOUTHEASTERN CANADA. ONE STUDENT DIED IN A RIP CURRENT TRIGGERED BY ARLENE AT MIAMI BEACH FLORIDA. THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY ARLENE WAS MINIMAL.
TROPICAL STORM BRET ORIGINATED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE AND A WEAK AREA OF SURFACE LOW PRESSURE THAT CROSSED CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE YUCATAN PENINSULA OF MEXICO FROM 24-27 JUNE. ON THE 28TH...THE ASSOCIATED AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER BECAME BETTER ORGANIZED OVER THE BAY OF CAMPECHE. A TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMED LATER THAT DAY ABOUT 60 MILES NORTHEAST OF VERACRUZ MEXICO. THE CYCLONE QUICKLY STRENGTHENED INTO A TROPICAL STORM. BRET MOVED WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AND MADE LANDFALL ON THE COAST OF MEXICO NEAR TUXPAN EARLY ON 29 JUNE WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 40 MPH IN A VERY SMALL AREA NEAR THE CENTER. THE SYSTEM DISSIPATED OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO LATER THAT SAME DAY. BRET PRODUCED FLOODING IN THE STATE OF VERACRUZ... WHERE THERE WAS 1 CONFIRMED DEATH. HOWEVER...SEVERAL PERSONS...IN 2 VEHICLES THAT WERE SWEPT AWAY BY FLOODWATERS IN NARANJOS VERACRUZ ...WERE REPORTED MISSING.
TROPICAL STORM CINDY FORMED ON 3 JULY IN THE EXTREME WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA JUST EAST OF THE YUCATAN-BELIZE BORDER. THE CYCLONE MOVED NORTHWESTWARD ACROSS THE YUCATAN PENINSULA BEFORE EMERGING OVER THE SOUTH-CENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO ON 4 JULY. ONCE OVER THE WARM GULF WATERS...THE DEPRESSION STRENGTHENED INTO A TROPICAL STORM EARLY ON 5 JULY AS THE CYCLONE TURNED NORTHWARD. DESPITE THE VERY WARM WATER AHEAD OF CINDY... ONLY SLOW INTENSIFICATION OCCURRED DUE TO MODERATE WIND SHEAR UNTIL JUST BEFORE LANDFALL WHEN MORE SIGNIFICANT STRENGTHENING OCCURRED. CINDY MADE LANDFALL AT NEAR HURRICANE INTENSITY EARLY ON 6 JULY OVER SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA JUST TO THE SOUTHWEST OF GRAND ISLE. CINDY TURNED NORTHEASTWARD AND PASSED OVER THE NEW ORLEANS AREA AND MERGED WITH A FRONTAL SYSTEM OVER NORTHERN GEORGIA LATER THAT DAY. EXTRATROPICAL CINDY MOVED NORTHEASTWARD ALONG THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS AND ACROSS NEW ENGLAND AND SOUTHEASTERN CANADA BEFORE DISSIPATING OVER THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE ON 11 JULY. THE MAIN EFFECT FROM CINDY WAS HEAVY RAINFALL THAT CAUSED FLOODING ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA... SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI...MUCH OF ALABAMA...THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE... AND GEORGIA. AS AN EXTRATROPICAL LOW... CINDY ALSO PRODUCED LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS MUCH OF THE EASTERN U.S. ALONG AND EAST OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. CINDY CAUSED ONE DEATH IN GEORGIA DUE TO FLOODING. DAMAGES CAUSED BY CINDY WERE MINIMAL.
HURRICANE DENNIS DEVELOPED ON 4 JULY FROM A TROPICAL WAVE NEAR THE SOUTHERN WINDWARD ISLANDS. THE DEPRESSION MOVED WEST-NORTHWESTWARD ACROSS THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL CARIBBEAN SEA...BECAME A TROPICAL STORM ON 5 JULY...AND STRENGTHENED INTO A HURRICANE EARLY ON 6 JULY ABOUT 245 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF JAMAICA. DENNIS INTENSIFIED OVER THE NEXT 2 DAYS AND BECAME A MAJOR HURRICANE ON THE 7 JULY... AND A STRONG CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE WITH WINDS OF 150 MPH ON 8 JULY JUST SOUTH OF CENTRAL CUBA. DENNIS PASSED OVER CABO CRUZ CUBA EARLY ON 8 JULY WITH WINDS OF 135 MPH... AND THEN MADE LANDFALL ALONG THE SOUTH-CENTRAL COAST OF CUBA THAT AFTERNOON NEAR CIENFUEGOS WITH WINDS OF 145 MPH. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE OCCURRED ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN CUBA...INCLUDING WIDESPREAD UTILITY AND COMMUNICATIONS OUTAGES. AFTER MAKING LANDFALL...DENNIS PASSED VERY NEAR HAVANA AND WEAKENED TO A CATEGORY 1 HURRICANE BEFORE EMERGING OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO EARLY ON 9 JULY. ALTHOUGH DENNIS RE-INTENSIFIED INTO A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE EARLY ON THE 10 JULY OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO...IT WEAKENED TO CATEGORY 3 STRENGTH BEFORE MAKING LANDFALL OVER THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE NEAR NAVARRE BEACH LATE ON 10 JULY. DENNIS WEAKENED TO A LOW PRESSURE AREA OVER THE TENNESSEE AND OHIO VALLEYS AND EVENTUALLY DISSIPATED OVER SOUTHEASTERN CANADA ON 18 JULY.
FORTY-ONE DEATHS WERE REPORTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH DENNIS...22 IN HAITI...16 IN CUBA...AND 3 IN THE UNITED STATES. CONSIDERABLE STORM SURGE RELATED DAMAGE OCCURRED NEAR ST. MARKS FLORIDA...WELL EAST OF THE LANDFALL LOCATION. HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING OCCURRED ACROSS MUCH OF FLORIDA AND EXTENDED WELL INLAND OVER PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES. THE DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH DENNIS IS ESTIMATED AT $1.84 BILLION.
EMILY FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE ON 11 JULY ABOUT 1300 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES. MOVING WESTWARD...THE DEPRESSION BECAME A TROPICAL STORM THE FOLLOWING DAY. ON 14 JULY... JUST AS EMILY WAS PASSING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN WINDWARD ISLANDS... IT ABRUPTLY STRENGTHENED AND BECAME A HURRICANE VERY NEAR GRENADA ...AND LATER THAT DAY BECAME A MAJOR HURRICANE IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA. OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS IT MOVED WEST-NORTHWESTWARD ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN...REACHING A PEAK INTENSITY OF 155 MPH...JUST BELOW THE CATEGORY 5 THRESHOLD...WHEN IT WAS SOUTH OF HISPANIOLA. EMILY PASSED TO THE SOUTH OF JAMAICA AND THE CAYMAN ISLANDS...AND THEN STRUCK COZUMEL AND THE YUCATAN PENINSULA OF MEXICO ON 18 JULY WITH MAXIMUM WINDS NEAR 135 MPH. EMILY CROSSED THE YUCATAN AND WEAKENED...BUT BECAME A MAJOR HURRICANE AGAIN IN THE SOUTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO. EMILY MADE ITS FINAL LANDFALL ON 20 JULY IN NORTHEASTERN MEXICO ABOUT 75 MILES SOUTH OF THE TEXAS BORDER... WITH MAXIMUM WINDS NEAR 125 MPH. EMILY THEN WEAKENED AND DISSIPATED THE FOLLOWING DAY OVER NORTHERN MEXICO.
FIVE DEATHS HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO EMILY... 1 IN GRENADA AND 4 IN JAMAICA. HOWEVER...A FINAL COUNT OF THE CASUALTIES IS NOT YET AVAILABLE. DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS ARE ALSO ONGOING AND ESTIMATES ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE.
TROPICAL STORM FRANKLIN FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE AND BECAME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION ON 21 JULY NEAR THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS. IT BECAME A TROPICAL STORM THAT EVENING...BUT TROPICAL STORM-FORCE WINDS REMAINED EAST OF THE BAHAMAS. FRANKLIN TURNED TOWARD THE NORTH AND THEN NORTHEASTWARD DURING THE NEXT TWO DAYS WHILE STRENGTHENING TO ITS PEAK INTENSITY OF 70 MPH ON 23 JULY. DURING 23-26 JULY... FRANKLIN MOVED ERRATICALLY TOWARD THE EAST-NORTHEAST IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF BERMUDA... AND WINDS WEAKENED TO 40 MPH BY 25 JULY DUE TO NORTHWESTERLY WIND SHEAR. THE CLOSEST APPROACH TO BERMUDA BY FRANKLIN WAS ABOUT 185 MILES TO THE WEST ON 26 JULY...AND NO TROPICAL STORM-FORCE WINDS OCCURRED ON BERMUDA. FRANKLIN THEN MOVED SLOWLY IN A GENERAL NORTHWARD DIRECTION ON 27-28 JULY WHILE ITS WINDS RESTRENGTHENED TO NEAR 60 MPH. ON 28 JULY... A FRONTAL SYSTEM MOVED OFF THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES AND ACCELERATED FRANKLIN TOWARD THE NORTHEAST. FRANKLIN BEGAN TO WEAKEN AFTER PASSING NORTH OF THE GULF STREAM EARLY ON 29 JULY... BECAME EXTRATROPICAL LATE ON 29 JULY... AND MERGED WITH A FRONTAL ZONE WHILE PASSING SOUTH OF NEWFOUNDLAND ON 30-31 JULY. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO FRANKLIN HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
TROPICAL STORM GERT FORMED IN THE BAY OF CAMPECHE ON 23 JULY AND MOVED SLOWLY TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST. GERT MADE LANDFALL NEAR CABO ROJO ON THE EASTERN COAST OF MEXICO LATE ON 24 JULY WITH 45 MPH WINDS. GERT BROUGHT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL TO THOSE AREAS THAT HAD BEEN AFFECTED BY HURRICANE EMILY LESS THAN A WEEK EARLIER. GERT DISSIPATED WELL INLAND OVER CENTRAL MEXICO ON 26 JULY. NO REPORTS OF CASUALTIES OR DAMAGE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
HARVEY FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE THAT EXITED THE COAST OF AFRICA ON 23 JULY. THIS WAVE SHOWED SIGNS OF ORGANIZATION AS IT MOVED WESTWARD ACROSS THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC FOR SEVERAL DAYS... BEFORE EMERGING OVER THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA ON 29 JULY. AN ASSOCIATED AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER CROSSED HISPANIOLA ON 30 JULY AND MOVED NORTHWARD FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. THE SYSTEM ORGANIZED INTO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION ON 2 AUGUST ABOUT 370 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BERMUDA. MOVING NORTH-NORTHEASTWARD... THE CYCLONE STRENGTHENED INTO TROPICAL STORM HARVEY ON 3 AUGUST. ON 4 AUGUST...HARVEY TURNED TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AND EAST-NORTHEAST... PASSED ABOUT 45 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA...AND STRENGTHENED TO ITS PEAK INTENSITY OF 65 MPH. BERMUDA REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 37 MPH WITH A GUST TO 51 MPH WHEN HARVEY PASSED BY. THE STORM TURNED NORTHEASTWARD ON 6 AUGUST AND STAYED ON THAT GENERAL HEADING FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. IT LOST TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS LATE ON 8 AUGUST ABOUT 535 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CAPE RACE NEWFOUNDLAND. THE LARGE AND POWERFUL EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONE LINGERED OVER THE NORTH ATLANTIC FOR SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE FINALLY LOSING ITS IDENTITY ON 14 AUGUST. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO HARVEY HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
HURRICANE IRENE WAS A LONG-LIVED CAPE VERDE TROPICAL CYCLONE THAT REMAINED OVER THE OPEN ATLANTIC THROUGHOUT ITS LIFETIME AND BECAME A STRONG CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE WELL TO THE NORTH OF BERMUDA. IRENE FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE THAT MOVED OFF THE COAST OF AFRICA ON 1 AUGUST. IT DEVELOPED INTO A DEPRESSION ON 4 AUGUST ABOUT 690 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS...BUT TURNED NORTHWESTWARD ACROSS COOLER WATERS. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT WAS HALTED UNTIL 7 AUGUST WHEN IT STRENGTHENED TO A TROPICAL STORM ABOUT 1250 MILES EAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS. IRENE MOVED OVER THE OPEN WATERS OF THE CENTRAL TROPICAL ATLANTIC FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS...WEAKENING TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION BEFORE RESTRENGTHENING TO A TROPICAL STORM ON 10 AUGUST. IRENE TURNED NORTHWESTWARD AND MOVED BETWEEN BERMUDA AND CAPE HATTERAS ON 14 AUGUST. IRENE TURNED NORTH-NORTHEASTWARD AND STRENGTHENED INTO A HURRICANE...REACHING ITS PEAK INTENSITY OF 105 MPH ON THE 15TH. THE HURRICANE TURNED TO THE EAST AND WEAKENED. IRENE THEN MOVED EAST-NORTHEASTWARD OVER MUCH COOLER WATERS AND BECAME EXTRATROPICAL ABOUT 295 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF CAPE RACE NEWFOUNDLAND ON 18 AUGUST. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO IRENE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
TROPICAL DEPRESSION TEN DEVELOPED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE ON 13 AUGUST ABOUT 1050 MILES EAST OF BARBADOS. STRONG VERTICAL WIND SHEAR CAUSED THE WESTWARD-MOVING CYCLONE TO DISSIPATE THE NEXT DAY. THE REMNANTS OF TD-10 MOVED WEST-NORTHWESTWARD UNTIL 20 AUGUST... AND THE REMNANT MID-LEVEL PART OF THE SYSTEM LIKELY CONTRIBUTED TO THE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF HURRICANE KATRINA. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO TROPICAL DEPRESSION TEN HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
JOSE WAS A SHORT-LIVED TROPICAL STORM THAT FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE ON 22 AUGUST OVER THE BAY OF CAMPECHE ABOUT 80 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF VERACRUZ. IT BECAME A TROPICAL STORM LATER THAT DAY...AND MADE LANDFALL LATE THAT EVENING ABOUT 35 MILES NORTH OF VERACRUZ WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF NEAR 50 MPH. JOSE SOON DISSIPATED OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN MEXICO. JOSE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR 6 DEATHS IN MEXICO.
KATRINA WILL LIKELY BE RECORDED AS THE MOST DEVASTATING HURRICANE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES...PRODUCING CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE AND HUNDREDS OF CASUALTIES IN THE NEW ORLEANS AREA AND ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST... AND ADDITIONAL CASUALTIES IN SOUTH FLORIDA. KATRINA WAS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR AN ESTIMATED 1200 DEATHS IN THE UNITED STATES... MAKING IT THE DEADLIEST U. S. HURRICANE SINCE THE PALM BEACH-LAKE OKEECHOBEE HURRICANE OF SEPTEMBER 1928. KATRINA ALSO CAUSED AN ESTIMATED $80 BILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGE... MAKING IT THE COSTLIEST U. S. HURRICANE ON RECORD.
THIS HORRIFIC TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE... BECOMING A DEPRESSION ABOUT 175 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NASSAU IN THE BAHAMAS ON 23 AUGUST. IT BECAME A TROPICAL STORM THE FOLLOWING DAY. KATRINA MOVED NORTHWESTWARD THROUGH THE BAHAMAS...AND THEN TURNED WESTWARD TOWARD SOUTH FLORIDA AND GRADUALLY STRENGTHENED. KATRINA BECAME A CATEGORY 1 HURRICANE AND MADE LANDFALL NEAR THE MIAMI-DADE/BROWARD COUNTY LINE DURING THE EVENING OF 25 AUGUST. KATRINA MOVED SOUTHWESTWARD ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA...DUMPING OVER A FOOT OF RAIN... TOPPLING TREES AND POWER LINES... AND DAMAGING HOMES AND BUSINESSES IN MIAMI-DADE AND BROWARD COUNTIES. KATRINA ALSO BROUGHT HEAVY RAINS AND SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM-FORCE WINDS TO PORTIONS OF THE FLORIDA KEYS. AFTER ENTERING THE GULF OF MEXICO ...KATRINA STRENGTHENED SIGNIFICANTLY... REACHING CATEGORY 5 INTENSITY ON 28 AUGUST ABOUT 250 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. LATER THAT DAY... KATRINA'S WINDS REACHED A PEAK INTENSITY OF 175 MPH AND THE PRESSURE FELL TO 902 MB...WHICH WAS AT THE TIME THE FOURTH LOWEST PRESSURE ON RECORD. KATRINA TURNED TO THE NORTHWEST AND THEN NORTH... MAKING LANDFALL IN PLAQUEMINES PARISH LOUISIANA JUST SOUTH OF BURAS WITH AN OPERATIONALLY ESTIMATED 140 MPH WINDS...CATEGORY 4...AT 610 AM CDT ON 29 AUGUST. CONTINUING NORTHWARD...KATRINA MADE A SECOND LANDFALL NEAR THE LOUISIANA/MISSISSIPPI BORDER AT 1000 AM CDT...WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OPERATIONALLY ESTIMATED AT 125 MPH...CATEGORY 3. POST-STORM ANALYSIS OF KATRINA'S INTENSITY IS STILL IN PROGRESS. KATRINA WEAKENED AS IT MOVED INLAND TO THE NORTH-NORTHEAST BUT WAS STILL A HURRICANE 100 MILES INLAND NEAR LAUREL MISSISSIPPI. KATRINA CONTINUED TO WEAKEN AND BECAME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION NEAR CLARKSVILLE TENNESSEE ON 30 AUGUST.
TROPICAL STORM LEE DEVELOPED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE OVER THE CENTRAL TROPICAL ATLANTIC...FIRST BECOMING A DEPRESSION ON 28 AUGUST ABOUT 925 MILES EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES. THE DEPRESSION DISSIPATED THE FOLLOWING DAY...BUT ITS REMNANTS REDEVELOPED INTO A DEPRESSION AND THEN A STORM ON 31 AUGUST. THE SYSTEM THEN QUICKLY WEAKENED AND DISSIPATED THE NEXT DAY SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES NORTHEAST OF BERMUDA. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO LEE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
MARIA DEVELOPED FROM A VIGOROUS TROPICAL WAVE THAT CROSSED THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA ON 27 AUGUST. THE SYSTEM BECAME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION ON 1 SEPTEMBER WHILE CENTERED ABOUT 1100 MILES EAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS. MOVING WEST-NORTHWESTWARD TO NORTHWESTWARD...THE CYCLONE STRENGTHENED INTO A TROPICAL STORM ON 2 SEPTEMBER. MARIA TURNED NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD AND BECAME A HURRICANE ON 4 SEPTEMBER. PEAK INTENSITY...115 MPH... WAS REACHED EARLY ON 6 SEPTEMBER WHEN THE CYCLONE WAS CENTERED ABOUT 470 MILES EAST OF BERMUDA. MARIA RECURVED NORTHEASTWARD AND WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL STORM BEFORE REGAINING HURRICANE INTENSITY ON 7 SEPTEMBER. OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS THE INTENSITY SLOWLY DECREASED... AND MARIA WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL STORM EARLY ON 9 SEPTEMBER. MARIA BECAME A POWERFUL EXTRATROPICAL STORM OVER THE NORTH ATLANTIC ABOUT 730 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF CAPE RACE NEWFOUNDLAND ON 10 SEPTEMBER. THE STORM MOVED INTO SCANDINAVIA ON 14 SEPTEMBER... WHERE IT CAUSED A LANDSLIDE AND 1 DEATH IN NORWAY.
HURRICANE NATE FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE THAT EXITED THE COAST OF AFRICA ON 30 AUGUST. THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE WAVE BROKE AWAY AND MOVED NORTHWESTWARD AS IT INTERACTED WITH A WEAK UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH NEAR BERMUDA. A TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMED LATE ON 5 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 300 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BERMUDA...AND THE SYSTEM QUICKLY STRENGTHENED INTO A TROPICAL STORM JUST 6 HOURS LATER. NATE DRIFTED NORTHEASTWARD FOR THE NEXT 2 DAYS AND RAPIDLY INTENSIFIED INTO A HURRICANE BY 7 SEPTEMBER. EARLY ON 8 SEPTEMBER...NATE QUICKLY ACCELERATED EAST-NORTHEASTWARD AND BRIEFLY THREATENED BERMUDA. HOWEVER...THE HURRICANE PASSED WELL TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THE ISLAND AND GRADUALLY WEAKENED BACK TO A TROPICAL STORM ON 9 SEPTEMBER. SLOW WEAKENING CONTINUED AS UPPER-LEVEL SHEAR INCREASED AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM...AND NATE TRANSFORMED INTO A STRONG EXTRATROPICAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ON 10 SEPTEMBER ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN BERMUDA AND THE AZORES ISLANDS. EXTRATROPICAL LOW NATE CONTINUED TO MOVE QUICKLY TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AND MERGED WITH A FRONTAL SYSTEM LATER THAT DAY ABOUT 900 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF THE AZORES. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO NATE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
ERRATIC HURRICANE OPHELIA FORMED FROM AN AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER ALONG THE WESTERN END OF AN OLD FRONTAL SYSTEM. THE CYCLONE BEGAN TO ORGANIZE ON 4 SEPTEMBER OVER THE CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS...AND A TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMED ON 6 SEPTEMBER NEAR GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND. THE DEPRESSION MOVED ERRATICALLY NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD AND BECAME TROPICAL STORM OPHELIA ON 7 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 115 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF CAPE CANAVERAL FLORIDA. OPHELIA MEANDERED OFF THE CENTRAL FLORIDA COAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS...BRIEFLY BECOMING A HURRICANE ON 8 SEPTEMBER. OPHELIA BEGAN A NORTHEASTWARD MOTION LATE ON 9 SEPTEMBER...WHICH CONTINUED UNTIL IT AGAIN STALLED ON 11 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 235 MILES SOUTH OF CAPE HATTERAS NORTH CAROLINA. DURING THAT TIME...IT TWICE REACHED HURRICANE STRENGTH BEFORE WEAKENING BACK TO A TROPICAL STORM. OPHELIA MADE A SLOW LOOP ON 12-13 SEPTEMBER...MOVING SOUTHWESTWARD AND NORTHWESTWARD BEFORE BEGINNING A NORTHWARD MOTION TOWARD THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST. THE CYCLONE BECAME A HURRICANE YET AGAIN LATE ON 13 SEPTEMBER...AND MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REACHED 85 MPH BY THE TIME THE NORTHERN EYEWALL REACHED THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST NEAR CAPE FEAR ON 14 SEPTEMBER. OPHELIA TURNED SLOWLY EAST-NORTHEASTWARD WITH THE CENTER PASSING SOUTH OF CAPE LOOKOUT AND CAPE HATTERAS ON 15 SEPTEMBER. IT THEN WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL STORM EARLY ON 16 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 45 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF CAPE HATTERAS. OPHELIA ACCELERATED TO THE NORTHEAST LATER ON 16 SEPTEMBER AND PASSED EAST OF CAPE COD THE NEXT DAY. THE STORM TRANSFORMED INTO AN EXTRATROPICAL LOW NEAR NOVA SCOTIA EARLY ON 18 SEPTEMBER...PASSED OVER NEWFOUNDLAND ON 19 SEPTEMBER...AND REACHED THE EASTERN ATLANTIC ON 21 SEPTEMBER. EXTRATROPICAL OPHELIA DISSIPATED OVER THE NORTH SEA ON 23 SEPTEMBER.
ONE DEATH WAS ATTRIBUTED TO OPHELIA...A DROWNING ALONG THE SOUTHEASTERN COAST OF FLORIDA. THE STORM CAUSED AN ESTIMATED $1.6 BILLION IN THE UNITED STATES...WITH SIGNIFICANT BEACH EROSION NOTED FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST SOUTHWARD TO THE CENTRAL FLORIDA COAST.
PHILIPPE FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE...BECOMING A DEPRESSION ON 17 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 305 MILES EAST OF BARBADOS. THE DEPRESSION BECAME A TROPICAL STORM LATER THAT DAY. PHILIPPE MOVED NORTH-NORTHEASTWARD TO THE EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES AND STRENGTHENED...BECOMING A HURRICANE ON 19 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 390 MILES EAST OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS. PHILIPPE REACHED ITS PEAK INTENSITY OF 80 MPH EARLY THE FOLLOWING DAY. CONTINUING TO THE NORTH-NORTHWEST OVER OPEN WATERS... PHILIPPE WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL STORM LATE ON 20 SEPTEMBER. THE CYCLONE TURNED NORTHWARD AND ITS CIRCULATION BECAME EMBEDDED WITHIN A LARGER NON-TROPICAL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ON 22 SEPTEMBER. ROTATING COUNTER-CLOCKWISE WITHIN THE LARGER LOW... PHILIPPE TURNED TO THE WEST AND SOUTH...AND WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION THE NEXT DAY. THE CIRCULATION OF PHILIPPE WAS ABSORBED BY THE NON-TROPICAL LOW EARLY ON 24 SEPTEMBER. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO PHILIPPE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
RITA WAS AN INTENSE...DESTRUCTIVE... AND DEADLY HURRICANE THAT SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED THE FLORIDA KEYS AND DEVASTATED PORTIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA. RITA BECAME A DEPRESSION JUST EAST OF THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS LATE ON 17 SEPTEMBER. IT MOVED WESTWARD AND BECAME A TROPICAL STORM THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON. CONTINUING ON THROUGH THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS ON 19 SEPTEMBER...RITA APPROACHED HURRICANE STRENGTH WITH 70 MPH WINDS. WHILE RITA DID NOT STRENGTHEN DURING THE FOLLOWING NIGHT...IT RAPIDLY INTENSIFIED ON 20 SEPTEMBER WHILE MOVING THROUGH THE FLORIDA STRAITS. IT REACHED CATEGORY TWO INTENSITY AS THE CENTER PASSED ABOUT 50 MILES SOUTH OF KEY WEST. EVEN THOUGH THE CENTER DID NOT MAKE LANDFALL IN THE FLORIDA KEYS...IT DOWNED TREES AND PRODUCED STORM TIDES OF UP TO FIVE FEET IN PORTIONS OF THE ISLAND CHAIN... FLOODING SECTIONS OF U.S. HIGHWAY 1 AND MANY OTHER STREETS...AS WELL AS SEVERAL HOMES AND BUSINESSES.
AFTER ENTERING THE GULF OF MEXICO... RITA INTENSIFIED AT A RAPID RATE... FROM CATEGORY TWO TO CATEGORY FIVE IN ABOUT 24 HOURS... WITH WINDS REACHING 165 MPH ON THE AFTERNOON OF 21 SEPTEMBER. THE HURRICANE STRENGTHENED FURTHER AND REACHED A PEAK INTENSITY OF 175 MPH EARLY ON 22 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 570 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS. THE CENTRAL PRESSURE FELL TO 897 MB...WHICH AT THE TIME WAS THE THIRD LOWEST ON RECORD IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN. RITA BEGAN TO WEAKEN LATER THAT DAY... BUT AS IT PASSED THROUGH THE GULF OF MEXICO... IT PRODUCED STORM SURGE FLOODING IN PORTIONS OF THE NEW ORLEANS AREA THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN INUNDATED BY KATRINA. RITA TURNED NORTHWESTWARD AND WEAKENED TO CATEGORY THREE ON 23 SEPTEMBER. IT THEN MADE LANDFALL AROUND 230 AM CDT 24 SEPTEMBER JUST EAST OF THE TEXAS/LOUISIANA BORDER BETWEEN SABINE PASS AND JOHNSON'S BAYOU...STILL AT CATEGORY THREE INTENSITY WITH 120 MPH WINDS. RITA CAUSED DEVASTATING STORM SURGE FLOODING AND WIND DAMAGE IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA AND EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS. IT WEAKENED AFTER MOVING INLAND...BUT REMAINED A TROPICAL STORM UNTIL REACHING NORTHWESTERN LOUISIANA LATE ON 24 SEPTEMBER. IT THEN TURNED NORTHEASTWARD AND MERGED WITH A FRONTAL SYSTEM TWO DAYS LATER. RITA CAUSED 6 DEATHS AND DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT $9.4 BILLION IN THE UNITED STATES.
TROPICAL DEPRESSION NINETEEN FORMED ON 30 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 665 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. THE SYSTEM MOVED SLOWLY NORTHWESTWARD AND DISSIPATED ON 2 OCTOBER ABOUT 780 MILES WEST OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO TD-19 HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
STAN DEVELOPED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE THAT GENERATED A PERSISTENT AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER OVER THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA IN LATE SEPTEMBER. A TROPICAL DEPRESSION EVENTUALLY FORMED ON 1 OCTOBER ABOUT 110 MILES SOUTHEAST OF COZUMEL MEXICO. THE CYCLONE MOVED WEST-NORTHWESTWARD... ATTAINING TROPICAL STORM STATUS JUST BEFORE CROSSING THE EAST COAST OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTH OF TULUM MEXICO ON 2 OCTOBER. STAN TRAVERSED YUCATAN AND WEAKENED TO A DEPRESSION... BUT IT SOON REGAINED TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH AFTER IT MOVED INTO THE BAY OF CAMPECHE ON 3 OCTOBER. THE STORM TURNED FROM A WESTWARD TO A SOUTHWESTWARD HEADING AND CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN. STAN BECAME A HURRICANE AS IT NEARED THE COAST OF MEXICO ON 4 OCTOBER AND MADE LANDFALL LATER THAT DAY ABOUT 90 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF VERACRUZ WITH MAXIMUM WINDS ESTIMATED AT 80 MPH. THE CYCLONE WEAKENED RAPIDLY AFTER MOVING INLAND AND DISSIPATED OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHERN MEXICO ON 5 OCTOBER.
AROUND THE TIME OF STAN'S EXISTENCE...TORRENTIAL RAINS CAUSED SEVERE FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES OVER PORTIONS OF MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA...INCLUDING GUATEMALA...EL SALVADOR...NICARAGUA... HONDURAS ...AND COSTA RICA. THE ESTIMATED DEATH TOLL ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WEATHER SYSTEM RANGES FROM 1000-2000. AS BEST AS CAN BE DETERMINED ...STAN ITSELF WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR 80 OF THESE DEATHS.
TAMMY WAS A SHORT-LIVED TROPICAL STORM THAT DEVELOPED JUST EAST OF THE CENTRAL FLORIDA COAST AS A RESULT OF COMPLEX INTERACTION BETWEEN AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW AND A TROPICAL WAVE. EARLY ON 5 OCTOBER ...TAMMY QUICKLY DEVELOPED INTO A TROPICAL STORM ABOUT 20 MILES EAST OF CAPE CANAVERAL FLORIDA. THE CYCLONE MOVED STEADILY NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD PARALLEL TO THE FLORIDA EAST COAST MOST OF THE DAY... BEFORE IT TURNED NORTHWESTWARD AND MADE LANDFALL ALONG THE NORTHEASTERN FLORIDA COAST NEAR MAYPORT VERY LATE THAT DAY WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 50 MPH. TAMMY MOVED WESTWARD OVER SOUTHERN GEORGIA AND SOUTHEASTERN ALABAMA ON 6 OCTOBER BEFORE BECOMING ABSORBED BY A LARGER EXTRATROPICAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE. NO SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED TO STRUCTURES... BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL OF 3-5 INCHES DID PRODUCE SOME MINOR FLOODING ACROSS NORTHEASTERN FLORIDA AND SOUTHERN GEORGIA.
SHORT-LIVED SUBTROPICAL DEPRESSION TWENTY-TWO FORMED ON 8 OCTOBER ABOUT 450 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA FROM A NON-TROPICAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM. THE CYCLONE MOVED NORTHWESTWARD TO WESTWARD AND DEGENERATED INTO A LOW PRESSURE AREA ABOUT 175 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF BERMUDA ON 10 OCTOBER. THE REMNANTS OF THE DEPRESSION MERGED WITH A COLD FRONT ON 11 OCTOBER AND BECAME AN EXTRATROPICAL GALE CENTER OFF THE U. S. MID-ATLANTIC STATES ON 12 OCTOBER. THIS LOW WAS ABSORBED BY A LARGER NON-TROPICAL LOW ON 14 OCTOBER. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO STD-22 HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
VINCE... THE FIRST KNOWN TROPICAL CYCLONE TO MAKE LANDFALL IN SPAIN... DEVELOPED FROM A NON-TROPICAL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE EASTERN ATLANTIC. THE LOW GRADUALLY ACQUIRED TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BECAME A TROPICAL STORM ON 9 OCTOBER ABOUT 515 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE AZORES ISLANDS. IT STRENGTHENED AND BECAME A HURRICANE LATER THAT DAY AS IT MOVED SLOWLY NORTHEASTWARD TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE MADEIRA ISLANDS. IT WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL STORM THE NEXT DAY AS IT ACCELERATED EAST-NORTHEASTWARD. ON 11 OCTOBER... VINCE WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION SHORTLY BEFORE MAKING LANDFALL NEAR HUELVA SPAIN. VINCE LOST TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS SHORTLY AFTER MAKING LANDFALL. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR CASUALTIES DUE TO VINCE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.
WILMA FORMED FROM A LARGE AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER THAT STRETCHED ACROSS MUCH OF THE CARIBBEAN SEA DURING THE SECOND WEEK OF OCTOBER. A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM GRADUALLY BECAME DEFINED NEAR JAMAICA AND A TROPICAL DEPRESSION DEVELOPED ABOUT 215 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND ON 15 OCTOBER. THE TROPICAL CYCLONE MOVED ERRATICALLY WESTWARD AND SOUTHWARD FOR TWO DAYS WHILE SLOWLY STRENGTHENING INTO A TROPICAL STORM. WILMA BECAME A HURRICANE AND BEGAN A WEST-NORTHWESTWARD MOTION ON 18 OCTOBER. LATER THAT DAY... WILMA BEGAN TO EXPLOSIVELY DEEPEN. ON 19 OCTOBER IT BECAME A CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE...AND ITS MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE DROPPED TO AN ESTIMATED 882 MB... WHILE ITS VERY SMALL EYE WAS CENTERED ABOUT 365 MILES SOUTHEAST OF COZUMEL. THIS IS THE LOWEST PRESSURE ON RECORD FOR A HURRICANE IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN. WILMA'S MAXIMUM INTENSITY IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE BEEN 175 MPH. ON 20 OCTOBER WILMA WEAKENED SLIGHTLY AND TURNED NORTHWESTWARD TOWARD THE NORTHEASTERN YUCATAN PENINSULA. ON 21 OCTOBER...THE HURRICANE MADE LANDFALL OVER COZUMEL... AND EARLY THE NEXT DAY IT MADE LANDFALL OVER THE NORTHEASTERN YUCATAN PENINSULA... BOTH AT CATEGORY 4 INTENSITY. WILMA MOVED SLOWLY AND WEAKENED OVER NORTHEASTERN YUCATAN AND EMERGED OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO EARLY ON 23 OCTOBER AS A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE. LATER THAT DAY IT TURNED NORTHEASTWARD AND ACCELERATED TOWARD THE SOUTHERN FLORIDA PENINSULA. THE HURRICANE STRENGTHENED AS IT APPROACHED THE SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA COAST... AND IT MADE LANDFALL NEAR CAPE ROMANO ON 24 OCTOBER WITH CATEGORY 3 INTENSITY. THE SYSTEM CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE NORTHEASTWARD...CROSSING FLORIDA IN LESS THAN 5 HOURS. WILMA MOVED INTO THE ATLANTIC JUST TO THE NORTH OF PALM BEACH AS A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE. IT REGAINED CATEGORY 3 STATUS JUST OFF THE EAST-CENTRAL COAST OF FLORIDA...AND GRADUALLY WEAKENED THEREAFTER. THE HURRICANE MOVED RAPIDLY NORTHEASTWARD OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC AND LOST TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS ABOUT 205 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF HALIFAX NOVA SCOTIA ON 25 OCTOBER.
AT THIS TIME...22 DEATHS HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO WILMA. WILMA CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE IN NORTHEASTERN YUCATAN...INCLUDING CANCUN AND COZUMEL...AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA. THE HURRICANE ALSO PRODUCED MAJOR FLOODING OVER WESTERN CUBA. DAMAGE IN THE UNITED STATES IS ESTIMATED AT $14.4 BILLION.
DUE TO THE EXTREMELY ACTIVE 2005 HURRICANE SEASON... THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER FOR THE FIRST TIME HAD TO RESORT TO USING THE GREEK ALPHABET WHEN TROPICAL STORM ALPHA FORMED FROM A VIGOROUS TROPICAL WAVE NEAR THE WINDWARD ISLANDS ON 21 OCTOBER. SHOWER ACTIVITY BECAME CONCENTRATED SOUTH OF PUERTO RICO... AND RADAR DATA FROM THE ISLAND HELPED DETERMINE THAT A TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMED EARLY ON 22 OCTOBER. THE DEPRESSION BECAME TROPICAL STORM ALPHA LATER THAT DAY. ALPHA MOVED NORTHWESTWARD AND DATA FROM HISPANIOLA INDICATE THAT THE CYCLONE MADE LANDFALL NEAR BARAHONA IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WITH 50 MPH WINDS. ALPHA WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN OF HISPANIOLA... AND IT CONTINUED NORTHWESTWARD AND NORTHWARD OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMAS AND THE ATLANTIC ON 23 OCTOBER. THE CYCLONE WEAKENED TO A TROUGH AS IT APPROACHED THE MUCH LARGER CIRCULATION OF HURRICANE WILMA ON 24 OCTOBER. ALPHA CAUSED 20 DEATHS IN HISPANIOLA...PRIMARILY FROM FLOODING CAUSED BY HEAVY RAINS.
BETA DEVELOPED OVER THE EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA FROM A TROPICAL WAVE. A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FORMED ALONG THE WAVE AXIS NEAR THE COAST OF COLOMBIA ON 25 OCTOBER. THE SYSTEM BECAME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION THE NEXT DAY ABOUT 170 MILES EAST OF THE COSTA RICA-NICARAGUA BORDER. THE DEPRESSION MOVED SLOWLY NORTHWARD FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS... BECOMING A TROPICAL STORM ON 27 OCTOBER. BETA STRENGTHENED INTO A HURRICANE ON 29 OCTOBER NEAR PROVIDENCIA ISLAND. IT THEN TURNED WESTWARD AND WEST-SOUTHWESTWARD AND STRENGTHENED INTO A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON 30 OCTOBER. BETA WEAKENED SLIGHTLY LATER THAT DAY AND MADE LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE CENTRAL EAST COAST OF NICARAGUA NEAR LA BARRA. THE CYCLONE MOVED WESTWARD OVER LAND AND DISSIPATED OVER WESTERN NICARAGUA EARLY ON 31 OCTOBER.
BETA CAUSED WIDESPREAD DAMAGE ON PROVIDENCIA ISLAND. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES WAS REPORTED ALONG THE CENTRAL NICARAGUAN COAST. SIGNIFICANT FLOODING ALSO OCCURRED IN HONDURAS.
THE VIGOROUS TROPICAL WAVE THAT SPAWNED GAMMA PASSED THROUGH THE SOUTHERN WINDWARD ISLANDS ON 13 NOVEMBER AND PRODUCED WIND GUSTS TO NEAR TROPICAL STORM-FORCE ALONG WITH HEAVY RAINFALL. EARLY ON 14 NOVEMBER... TROPICAL DEPRESSION TWENTY-SEVEN FORMED OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA ABOUT 100 MILES WEST OF ST. VINCENT ISLAND. THE DEPRESSION CONTINUED ON A WESTWARD TRACK AND MAY HAVE BRIEFLY REACHED TROPICAL STORM STRENGTH ON 15 NOVEMBER BEFORE STRONG WESTERLY UPPER-LEVEL SHEAR DISPLACED THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO THE EAST AND CAUSED THE CYCLONE TO DEGENERATE BACK INTO A TROPICAL WAVE. THE REMNANTS OF TD-27 ACCELERATED WESTWARD ACROSS THE CENTRAL CARIBBEAN SEA ON 17 NOVEMBER BEFORE SLOWING DOWN AND REACHING THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA AND EASTERN HONDURAS ON 18 NOVEMBER. A LARGE NON-CONVECTIVE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEVELOPED OVER PANAMA AND MOVED NORTHWESTWARD AND MERGED WITH THE REMNANTS OF TD-27 OVER CENTRAL HONDURAS... AND IT IS ESTIMATED THAT TROPICAL STORM GAMMA FORMED NEAR THE NORTHERN COAST OF HONDURAS LATER THAT DAY. WHILE THE OTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM LIKELY AIDED THE GENERATION OF TROPICAL STORM GAMMA...CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW- TO MID-LEVEL VORTICITY CENTER OF TD-27 MAINTAINED CONTINUITY THROUGHOUT ITS LIFETIME... AND IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE LOW-LEVEL CIRCULATION OF THE OTHER NON-CONVECTIVE LOW MERGED WITH THE REMNANT LOW-LEVEL CIRCULATION OF TD-27 OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL HONDURAS. GAMMA DRIFTED NORTHWARD OVER THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA AND STRENGTHENED TO 55 MPH EAST OF ROATAN ISLAND ON 19 NOVEMBER ...AND TURNED SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD ON 20-21 NOVEMBER. UPPER-LEVEL NORTHWESTERLY SHEAR WEAKENED THE CYCLONE AND IT DEGENGERATED INTO A NON-CONVECTIVE REMNANT LOW LATE ON 21 NOVEMBER AND DISSISPATED ON 22 NOVEMBER JUST EAST OF THE NICARAGUA-HONDURAS BORDER.
HEAVY RAINFALL CAUSED FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES IN HONDURAS AND BELIZE. AT THIS TIME... THE FLOODING ASSOCIATED WITH GAMMA HAS RESULTED IN A TOTAL OF 37 DEATHS... 34 IN HONDURAS AND 3 IN BELIZE. AT LEAST 13 PEOPLE IN HONDURAS WERE ALSO MISSING. TEN BRIDGES WERE DESTROYED AND 7 MORE WERE DAMAGED IN HONDURAS.
DELTA ORIGINATED FROM AN EXTRATROPICAL LOW OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC. ON 19 NOVEMBER THIS SYSTEM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 1050 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA. THE LOW MOVED EASTWARD AND THEN NORTHEASTWARD... REACHING A POSITION ABOUT 800 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE AZORES ON 22 NOVEMBER. THE LOW TURNED SOUTHWARD LATER THAT DAY AND DEVELOPED INTO A SUBTROPICAL STORM. DELTA CONTINUED SOUTHWARD ON 23 NOVEMBER AS IT BECAME A TROPICAL STORM...AND WINDS REACHED AN ESTIMATED 70 MPH THE NEXT DAY WHILE THE STORM MOVED SOUTHEASTWARD. DELTA MOVED ERRATICALLY SOUTHWARD THROUGH 26 NOVEMBER WHILE WEAKENING...THEN IT TURNED NORTHEASTWARD AND AND STRENGTHENED ON 27 NOVEMBER...WITH WINDS AGAIN REACHING 70 MPH. DELTA TURNED EASTWARD AND BECAME A VIGOROUS EXTRATROPICAL LOW ON 28 NOVEMBER ABOUT 350 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF THE CANARY ISLANDS. THE EXTRATROPICAL LOW BROUGHT WIND GUSTS OF HURRICANE FORCE TO THE CANARY ISLANDS ON 28 NOVEMBER BEFORE WEAKENING AND MOVING INTO MOROCCO ON 29 OCTOBER. SEVEN DEATHS ON OR NEAR THE CANARY ISLANDS WERE ATTRIBUTED TO THE EXTRATROPICAL STAGE OF DELTA.
TROPICAL STORM EPSILON...LIKE ITS PREDECESSOR...DEVELOPED FROM AN EXTRATROPICAL LOW OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN THE AZORES AND BERMUDA ON 29 NOVEMBER. EPSILON MOVED WEST- SOUTHWESTWARD AND SLOWLY STRENGTHENED.... AND AT MONTH'S END WAS LOCATED SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES EAST OF BERMUDA AND MOVING EAST-NORTHEASTWARD OVER THE OPEN WATERS OF THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC.
SUMMARY TABLE
NAME DATES MAX WIND DEATHS U.S. DAMAGE MPH $MILLION --------------------------------------------------------------- TS ARLENE 8-13 JUN 70 1 MINOR TS BRET 28-29 JUN 40 1 0 TS CINDY 3-7 JUL 70 1 MINOR H DENNIS 4-13 JUL 150 41 1840 H EMILY 11-21 JUL 155 5 MINOR TS FRANKLIN 21-29 JUL 70 0 0 TS GERT 23-25 JUL 45 0 0 TS HARVEY 2-8 AUG 65 0 0 H IRENE 4-18 AUG 105 0 0 TD TEN 13-14 AUG 35 0 0 TS JOSE 22-23 AUG 50 6 0 H KATRINA 23-30 AUG 175 1200 80000 TS LEE 28 AUG - 1 SEP 40 0 0 H MARIA 1-10 SEP 115 0 0 H NATE 5-10 SEP 90 0 0 H OPHELIA 6-17 SEP 85 1 1600 H PHILIPPE 17-24 SEP 80 0 0 H RITA 18-26 SEP 175 6 9400 TD NINETEEN 30 SEP - 2 OCT 30 0 0 H STAN 1-5 OCT 80 100 0 TS TAMMY 5-6 OCT 50 0 MINOR STD TWENTY-TWO 8-10 OCT 35 0 0 H VINCE 9-11 OCT 75 0 0 H WILMA 15-25 OCT 175 22 14400 TS ALPHA 22-24 OCT 50 20 0 H BETA 26-31 OCT 115 0 0 TS GAMMA 13-20 NOV 55 37 0 TS DELTA 22-28 NOV 70 0 0 TS EPSILON 29 NOV - ?? DEC 70 0 0 -------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE...DATES BASED ON COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC)
FORECASTER STEWART/BEVEN/AVILA/FRANKLIN/KNABB/PASCH
$$
Interestingly, the numbers show that despite all the media hoopla over what Katrina supposedly did to NOLA, Wilma was more powerful when she hit Florida than either Katrina or Rita when they hit Louisiana. Katrina's and Rita's winds on landfall were 125 and 120 respectively, and both were weakening and moving slowly. Wilma, on the other hand, was intensifying and accelerating when she made landfall with 125 mph winds. IMO, Wilma was trying to get back up to Cat 5 again, but Florida got in her way.
As far as I'm concerned, what happened in NOLA is not directly attributable to Katrina. Katrina had little effect on NOLA when she made landfall. Indeed, the media exulted for 24 hours after landfall that NOLA had dodged a bullet and survived. The true devastation caused by Katrina on landfall occured on the Mississippi coast, because Cat 3 Katrina was still pushing a Cat 5 storm surge. NOLA started flooding the day after landfall, and blame for that should be ascribed to Democrat corruption and incompetence regarding the levies, not to Katrina.
Of course, after the flooding started, the media created the myth of Katrina/NOLA... but if the levies had been properly maintained and had held, NOLA would have gotten off quite easy. Indeed, Cancun was hit much harder by Wilma than NOLA was by Katrina, pummeled for two whole days by 140 mph winds and five feet of rain. But thanks to the media's distortion, many people have the mistaken impression that Wilma plays second fiddle to Katrina in terms of overall strength. Not so. Katrina beats Wilma in terms of storm surge, but in nothing else.
I own a home on Texas Gulf Coast. Hurr. Rita sure scared us, but it turned and also weakened. We only got 1/2 inch of rain at our house. My 24 year old son is house sitting for me there this year while I am in So. Calif. I think from now on I will spend summers at my Texas home so I can aid in evacuation from now on.
THE OLD RECORD OF 12 SET BACK IN 1969. ????
Globull warming that year????? LOL
Here's something neat I learned on FR:
Run an all caps article through Word and use the Change Case function under the Format menu to avoid the all caps shouting.
Actually, there is indeed global warming. But it isn't caused by humanity and it's quite natural. And it's happening on Mars too. The real cause is increasing output by the sun. People tend to forget that we're still coming out of the last Ice Age. The sun's output increases and decreases in cycles which last thousands of years, leading to increases and decreases in the Earth's average temperature. This is something I was taught in grade school. But today's socialist, leftist pseudo-scientists focus strictly on the change in temperatures over the past few decades only, and draw a completely flawed conclusion which is in line with their flawed thinking and ideology. They concentrate on a single tree and fail to see the entire forest.
In addition to the sun's cycles, there are also cycles of increased hurricane activity. We're in such a cycle right now, which actually began a decade ago. But the average leftist only looks back as far as the year 2000, and seeks to explain everything based on the Bush presidency.
000 ABNT30 KNHC 011328 TWSAT MONTHLY TROPICAL WEATHER SUMMARY NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 8 AM EDT THU DEC 1 2005 For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico... The 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season is the most active on record. Twenty-six named tropical storms formed...breaking the old record of 21 set back in 1933. Thirteen storms became hurricanes... breaking the old record of 12 set back in 1969. Seven of the hurricanes became major hurricanes...Category Three or higher on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale...including three...Katrina... Rita...and Wilma...which reached Category Five intensity. This is the first time since 1851 that three Category Five storms have been known to occur in a season. The season also included three depressions that did not reach tropical storm strength. In contrast...based on the average for the last 40 years...in an average season there would have been 11 named storms...6 hurricanes ...and 2 major hurricanes. These numbers could change...as Cindy may be upgraded to a hurricane at landfall in Louisiana...and Emily may have briefly reached Category Five strength. Arlene formed on 8 June near the northeastern coast of Honduras and became a tropical storm on the 9 June about 170 miles west-southwest of Grand Cayman Island. Arlene moved slowly northward with steady intensification and crossed western Cuba near Cabo Corrientes with winds of 50 mph. The storm continued northward over the eastern Gulf of Mexico where it reached its peak intensity of 70 mph. Thereafter...Arlene weakened and made landfall near Pensacola Florida with 60 mph winds. The cyclone continued to weaken as it moved northward farther inland and was absorbed by a frontal system on 14 June over southeastern Canada. One student died in a rip current triggered by Arlene at Miami Beach Florida. The damage caused by Arlene was minimal. Tropical Storm Bret originated from a tropical wave and a weak area of surface low pressure that crossed Central America and the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico from 24-27 June. On the 28th...the associated area of disturbed weather became better organized over the Bay of Campeche. A tropical depression formed later that day about 60 miles northeast of Veracruz Mexico. The cyclone quickly strengthened into a tropical storm. Bret moved west-northwestward and made landfall on the coast of Mexico near Tuxpan early on 29 June with maximum winds of 40 mph in a very small area near the center. The system dissipated over the mountains of Mexico later that same day. Bret produced flooding in the state of Veracruz... where there was 1 confirmed death. However...several persons...in 2 vehicles that were swept away by floodwaters in Naranjos Veracruz ...were reported missing. Tropical Storm Cindy formed on 3 July in the extreme western Caribbean Sea just east of the Yucatan-Belize border. The cyclone moved northwestward across the Yucatan peninsula before emerging over the south-central Gulf of Mexico on 4 July. Once over the warm gulf waters...the depression strengthened into a tropical storm early on 5 July as the cyclone turned northward. Despite the very warm water ahead of Cindy... only slow intensification occurred due to moderate wind shear until just before landfall when more significant strengthening occurred. Cindy made landfall at near hurricane intensity early on 6 July over southeastern Louisiana just to the southwest of Grand Isle. Cindy turned northeastward and passed over the New Orleans area and merged with a frontal system over northern Georgia later that day. Extratropical Cindy moved northeastward along the Appalachian Mountains and across New England and southeastern Canada before dissipating over the Gulf of St. Lawrence on 11 July. The main effect from Cindy was heavy rainfall that caused flooding across southeastern Louisiana... southern Mississippi...much of Alabama...the Florida panhandle... and Georgia. As an extratropical low... Cindy also produced locally heavy rainfall across much of the eastern U.S. Along and east of the Appalachian Mountains. Cindy caused one death in Georgia due to flooding. Damages caused by Cindy were minimal. Hurricane Dennis developed on 4 July from a tropical wave near the southern Windward Islands. The depression moved west-northwestward across the eastern and central Caribbean Sea...became a tropical storm on 5 July...and strengthened into a hurricane early on 6 July about 245 miles east-southeast of Jamaica. Dennis intensified over the next 2 days and became a major hurricane on the 7 July... and a strong Category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph on 8 July just south of central Cuba. Dennis passed over Cabo Cruz cuba early on 8 July with winds of 135 mph... and then made landfall along the south-central coast of Cuba that afternoon near Cienfuegos with winds of 145 mph. Considerable damage occurred across central and eastern Cuba...including widespread utility and communications outages. After making landfall...Dennis passed very near Havana and weakened to a Category 1 hurricane before emerging over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico early on 9 July. Although Dennis re-intensified into a Category 4 hurricane early on the 10 July over the eastern Gulf of Mexico...it weakened to Category 3 strength before making landfall over the western Florida panhandle near Navarre Beach late on 10 July. Dennis weakened to a low pressure area over the Tennessee and Ohio valleys and eventually dissipated over southeastern Canada on 18 July. Forty-one deaths were reported in association with Dennis...22 in Haiti...16 in Cuba...and 3 in the United States. Considerable storm surge related damage occurred near St. Marks Florida...well east of the landfall location. Heavy rainfall and flooding occurred across much of Florida and extended well inland over portions of the southeastern United States. The damage associated with Dennis is estimated at $1.84 billion. Emily formed from a tropical wave on 11 July about 1300 miles east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles. Moving westward...the depression became a tropical storm the following day. On 14 July... just as Emily was passing through the southern Windward Islands... it abruptly strengthened and became a hurricane very near Grenada ...and later that day became a major hurricane in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Over the next few days it moved west-northwestward across the Caribbean...reaching a peak intensity of 155 mph...just below the Category 5 threshold...when it was south of Hispaniola. Emily passed to the south of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands...and then struck Cozumel and the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico on 18 July with maximum winds near 135 mph. Emily crossed the Yucatan and weakened...but became a major hurricane again in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Emily made its final landfall on 20 July in northeastern Mexico about 75 miles south of the Texas border... with maximum winds near 125 mph. Emily then weakened and dissipated the following day over northern Mexico. Five deaths have been attributed to Emily... 1 in Grenada and 4 in Jamaica. However...a final count of the casualties is not yet available. Damage assessments are also ongoing and estimates are not yet available. Tropical Storm Franklin formed from a tropical wave and became a tropical depression on 21 July near the central Bahamas. It became a tropical storm that evening...but tropical storm-force winds remained east of the Bahamas. Franklin turned toward the north and then northeastward during the next two days while strengthening to its peak intensity of 70 mph on 23 July. During 23-26 July... Franklin moved erratically toward the east-northeast in the general direction of Bermuda... and winds weakened to 40 mph by 25 July due to northwesterly wind shear. The closest approach to Bermuda by Franklin was about 185 miles to the west on 26 July...and no tropical storm-force winds occurred on Bermuda. Franklin then moved slowly in a general northward direction on 27-28 July while its winds restrengthened to near 60 mph. On 28 July... a frontal system moved off the east coast of the United States and accelerated Franklin toward the northeast. Franklin began to weaken after passing north of the gulf stream early on 29 July... became extratropical late on 29 July... and merged with a frontal zone while passing south of Newfoundland on 30-31 July. No reports of damage or casualties due to Franklin have been received. Tropical Storm Gert formed in the Bay of Campeche on 23 July and moved slowly toward the west-northwest. Gert made landfall near Cabo Rojo on the eastern coast of Mexico late on 24 July with 45 mph winds. Gert brought locally heavy rainfall to those areas that had been affected by Hurricane Emily less than a week earlier. Gert dissipated well inland over central Mexico on 26 July. No reports of casualties or damage have been received. Harvey formed from a tropical wave that exited the coast of Africa on 23 July. This wave showed signs of organization as it moved westward across the tropical Atlantic for several days... before emerging over the northeastern Caribbean Sea on 29 July. An associated area of disturbed weather crossed Hispaniola on 30 July and moved northward for a couple of days. The system organized into a tropical depression on 2 August about 370 miles southwest of Bermuda. Moving north-northeastward... the cyclone strengthened into Tropical Storm Harvey on 3 August. On 4 August...Harvey turned toward the northeast and east-northeast... passed about 45 miles south-southeast of Bermuda...and strengthened to its peak intensity of 65 mph. Bermuda reported sustained winds of 37 mph with a gust to 51 mph when Harvey passed by. The storm turned northeastward on 6 August and stayed on that general heading for a couple of days. It lost tropical characteristics late on 8 August about 535 miles southeast of Cape Race Newfoundland. The large and powerful extratropical cyclone lingered over the north Atlantic for several days before finally losing its identity on 14 August. No reports of damage or casualties due to Harvey have been received. Hurricane Irene was a long-lived Cape Verde tropical cyclone that remained over the open Atlantic throughout its lifetime and became a strong Category 2 hurricane well to the north of Bermuda. Irene formed from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on 1 August. It developed into a depression on 4 August about 690 miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands...but turned northwestward across cooler waters. Further development was halted until 7 August when it strengthened to a tropical storm about 1250 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. Irene moved over the open waters of the central tropical Atlantic for the next few days...weakening to a tropical depression before restrengthening to a tropical storm on 10 August. Irene turned northwestward and moved between Bermuda and Cape Hatteras on 14 August. Irene turned north-northeastward and strengthened into a hurricane...reaching its peak intensity of 105 mph on the 15th. The hurricane turned to the east and weakened. Irene then moved east-northeastward over much cooler waters and became extratropical about 295 miles east-southeast of Cape Race Newfoundland on 18 August. No reports of damage or casualties due to Irene have been received. Tropical Depression Ten developed from a tropical wave on 13 August about 1050 miles east of Barbados. Strong vertical wind shear caused the westward-moving cyclone to dissipate the next day. The remnants of TD-10 moved west-northwestward until 20 August... and the remnant mid-level part of the system likely contributed to the initial development of Hurricane Katrina. No reports of damage or casualties due to Tropical Depression Ten have been received. Jose was a short-lived tropical storm that formed from a tropical wave on 22 August over the Bay of Campeche about 80 miles east-northeast of Veracruz. It became a tropical storm later that day...and made landfall late that evening about 35 miles north of Veracruz with maximum winds of near 50 mph. Jose soon dissipated over the mountains of eastern Mexico. Jose was responsible for 6 deaths in Mexico. Katrina will likely be recorded as the most devastating hurricane in the history of the United States...producing catastrophic damage and hundreds of casualties in the New Orleans area and along the Mississippi gulf coast... and additional casualties in south Florida. Katrina was directly responsible for an estimated 1200 deaths in the United States... making it the deadliest U. S. hurricane since the Palm Beach-Lake Okeechobee hurricane of September 1928. Katrina also caused an estimated $80 billion dollars in damage... making it the costliest U. S. Hurricane on record. This horrific tropical cyclone formed from a tropical wave... becoming a depression about 175 miles southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas on 23 August. It became a tropical storm the following day. Katrina moved northwestward through the Bahamas...and then turned westward toward south Florida and gradually strengthened. Katrina became a Category 1 hurricane and made landfall near the Miami-Dade/Broward County line during the evening of 25 August. Katrina moved southwestward across south Florida...dumping over a foot of rain... Toppling trees and power lines... and damaging homes and businesses in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. Katrina also brought heavy rains and sustained tropical storm-force winds to portions of the Florida Keys. After entering the Gulf of Mexico ...Katrina strengthened significantly... reaching Category 5 intensity on 28 August about 250 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Later that day... Katrina's winds reached a peak intensity of 175 mph and the pressure fell to 902 mb...which was at the time the fourth lowest pressure on record. Katrina turned to the northwest and then north... Making landfall in Plaquemines Parish Louisiana just south of Buras with an operationally estimated 140 mph winds...Category 4...at 610 am cdt on 29 August. Continuing northward...Katrina made a second landfall near the Louisiana/Mississippi border at 1000 am cdt...with maximum winds operationally estimated at 125 mph...Category 3. Post-storm analysis of Katrina's intensity is still in progress. Katrina weakened as it moved inland to the north-northeast but was still a hurricane 100 miles inland near Laurel Mississippi. Katrina continued to weaken and became a tropical depression near Clarksville Tennessee on 30 August. Tropical Storm Lee developed from a tropical wave over the central tropical Atlantic...first becoming a depression on 28 August about 925 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. The depression dissipated the following day...but its remnants redeveloped into a depression and then a storm on 31 August. The system then quickly weakened and dissipated the next day several hundred miles northeast of Bermuda. No reports of damage or casualties due to Lee have been received. Maria developed from a vigorous tropical wave that crossed the west coast of Africa on 27 August. The system became a tropical depression on 1 September while centered about 1100 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. Moving west-northwestward to northwestward...the cyclone strengthened into a tropical storm on 2 September. Maria turned north-northwestward and became a hurricane on 4 September. Peak intensity...115 mph... was reached early on 6 September when the cyclone was centered about 470 miles east of Bermuda. Maria recurved northeastward and weakened to a tropical storm before regaining hurricane intensity on 7 September. Over the next few days the intensity slowly decreased... and Maria weakened to a tropical storm early on 9 September. Maria became a powerful extratropical storm over the north Atlantic about 730 miles east-southeast of Cape Race Newfoundland on 10 September. The storm moved into Scandinavia on 14 September... ehere it caused a landslide and 1 death in Norway. Hurricane Nate formed from a tropical wave that exited the coast of Africa on 30 August. The northern portion of the wave broke away and moved northwestward as it interacted with a weak upper-level trough near Bermuda. A tropical depression formed late on 5 September about 300 miles southwest of Bermuda...and the system quickly strengthened into a tropical storm just 6 hours later. Nate drifted northeastward for the next 2 days and rapidly intensified into a hurricane by 7 September. Early on 8 September...Nate quickly accelerated east-northeastward and briefly threatened Bermuda. However...the hurricane passed well to the southeast of the island and gradually weakened back to a tropical storm on 9 September. Slow weakening continued as upper-level shear increased ahead of an approaching frontal system...and Nate transformed into a strong extratropical low pressure system on 10 September about midway between Bermuda and the Azores Islands. Extratropical low Nate continued to move quickly to the east-northeast and merged with a frontal system later that day about 900 miles west-southwest of the Azores. No reports of damage or casualties due to Nate have been received. Erratic Hurricane Ophelia formed from an area of disturbed weather along the western end of an old frontal system. The cyclone began to organize on 4 September over the central and northwestern Bahamas...and a tropical depression formed on 6 September near Grand Bahama Island. The depression moved erratically north-northwestward and became Tropical Storm Ophelia on 7 September about 115 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral Florida. Ophelia meandered off the central Florida coast for the next two days...briefly becoming a hurricane on 8 September. Ophelia began a northeastward motion late on 9 September...which continued until it again stalled on 11 September about 235 miles south of Cape Hatteras North Carolina. During that time...it twice reached hurricane strength before weakening back to a tropical storm. Ophelia made a slow loop on 12-13 September...moving southwestward and northwestward before beginning a northward motion toward the North Carolina coast. The cyclone became a hurricane yet again late on 13 September...and maximum sustained winds reached 85 mph by the time the northern eyewall reached the North Carolina coast near Cape Fear on 14 September. Ophelia turned slowly east-northeastward with the center passing south of Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras on 15 September. It then weakened to a tropical storm early on 16 September about 45 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras. Ophelia accelerated to the northeast later on 16 September and passed east of Cape Cod the next day. The storm transformed into an extratropical low near Nova Scotia early on 18 September...passed over Newfoundland on 19 September...and reached the eastern Atlantic on 21 September. Extratropical Ophelia dissipated over the North Sea on 23 September. One death was attributed to Ophelia...a drowning along the southeastern coast of Florida. The storm caused an estimated $1.6 billion in the United States...with significant beach erosion noted from the North Carolina coast southward to the central Florida coast. Philippe formed from a tropical wave...becoming a depression on 17 September about 305 miles east of Barbados. The depression became a tropical storm later that day. Philippe moved north-northeastward to the east of the Lesser Antilles and strengthened...becoming a hurricane on 19 September about 390 miles east of the Leeward Islands. Philippe reached its peak intensity of 80 mph early the following day. Continuing to the north-northwest over open waters... Philippe weakened to a tropical storm late on 20 September. The cyclone turned northward and its circulation became embedded within a larger non-tropical area of low pressure on 22 September. Rotating counter-clockwise within the larger low... Philippe turned to the west and south...and weakened to a tropical depression the next day. The circulation of Philippe was absorbed by the non-tropical low early on 24 September. No reports of damage or casualties due to Philippe have been received. Rita was an intense...destructive... and deadly hurricane that significantly impacted the Florida Keys and devastated portions of southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Rita became a depression just east of the Turks and Caicos Islands late on 17 September. It moved westward and became a tropical storm the following afternoon. Continuing on through the central Bahamas on 19 September...Rita approached hurricane strength with 70 mph winds. While Rita did not strengthen during the following night...it rapidly intensified on 20 September while moving through the Florida Straits. It reached Category Two intensity as the center passed about 50 miles south of Key West. Even though the center did not make landfall in the Florida Keys...it downed trees and produced storm tides of up to five feet in portions of the island chain... flooding sections of U.S. Highway 1 and many other streets...as well as several homes and businesses. After entering the Gulf of Mexico... Rita intensified at a rapid rate... from Category Two to Category Five in about 24 hours... with winds reaching 165 mph on the afternoon of 21 September. The hurricane strengthened further and reached a peak intensity of 175 mph early on 22 September about 570 miles east-southeast of Galveston Texas. The central pressure fell to 897 mb...which at the time was the third lowest on record in the Atlantic Basin. Rita began to weaken later that day... but as it passed through the Gulf of Mexico... it produced storm surge flooding in portions of the New Orleans area that had previously been inundated by Katrina. Rita turned northwestward and weakened to Category Three on 23 September. It then made landfall around 230 am cdt 24 September just east of the Texas/Louisiana border between Sabine Pass and Johnson's Bayou...still at Category Three intensity with 120 mph winds. Rita caused devastating storm surge flooding and wind damage in southwestern Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas. It weakened after moving inland...but remained a tropical storm until reaching northwestern Louisiana late on 24 September. It then turned northeastward and merged with a frontal system two days later. Rita caused 6 deaths and damage estimated at $9.4 billion in the United States. Tropical Depression Nineteen formed on 30 September about 665 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. The system moved slowly northwestward and dissipated on 2 October about 780 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. No reports of damage or casualties due to TD-19 have been received. Stan developed from a tropical wave that generated a persistent area of disturbed weather over the western Caribbean Sea in late September. A tropical depression eventually formed on 1 October about 110 miles southeast of Cozumel Mexico. The cyclone moved west-northwestward... attaining tropical storm status just before crossing the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula about 40 miles south of Tulum Mexico on 2 October. Stan traversed Yucatan and weakened to a depression... but it soon regained tropical storm strength after it moved into the Bay of Campeche on 3 October. The storm turned from a westward to a southwestward heading and continued to strengthen. Stan became a hurricane as it neared the coast of Mexico on 4 October and made landfall later that day about 90 miles east-southeast of Veracruz with maximum winds estimated at 80 mph. The cyclone weakened rapidly after moving inland and dissipated over the mountains of southern Mexico on 5 October. Around the time of Stan's existence...torrential rains caused severe flash floods and mud slides over portions of Mexico and Central America...including Guatemala...El Salvador...Nicaragua... Honduras ...and Costa Rica. The estimated death toll associated with this weather system ranges from 1000-2000. As best as can be determined ...Stan itself was responsible for 80 of these deaths. Tammy was a short-lived tropical storm that developed just east of the central Florida coast as a result of complex interaction between an upper-level low and a tropical wave. Early on 5 October ...Tammy quickly developed into a tropical storm about 20 miles east of Cape Canaveral Florida. The cyclone moved steadily north-northwestward parallel to the Florida east coast most of the day... before it turned northwestward and made landfall along the northeastern Florida coast near Mayport very late that day with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. Tammy moved westward over southern Georgia and southeastern Alabama on 6 October before becoming absorbed by a larger extratropical low pressure system over the Florida panhandle. No significant damage occurred to structures... but locally heavy rainfall of 3-5 inches did produce some minor flooding across northeastern Florida and southern Georgia. short-lived Subtropical Depression Twenty-Two formed on 8 October about 450 miles southeast of Bermuda from a non-tropical low pressure system. The cyclone moved northwestward to westward and degenerated into a low pressure area about 175 miles west-southwest of Bermuda on 10 October. The remnants of the depression merged with a cold front on 11 October and became an extratropical gale center off the U. S. Mid-atlantic states on 12 October. This low was absorbed by a larger non-tropical low on 14 October. No reports of damage or casualties due to STD-22 have been received. Vince... the first known tropical cyclone to make landfall in Spain... developed from a non-tropical area of low pressure in the eastern Atlantic. The low gradually acquired tropical characteristics and became a tropical storm on 9 October about 515 miles east-southeast of the Azores Islands. It strengthened and became a hurricane later that day as it moved slowly northeastward to the northwest of the Madeira Islands. It weakened to a tropical storm the next day as it accelerated east-northeastward. On 11 October... Vince weakened to a tropical depression shortly before making landfall near Huelva Spain. Vince lost tropical characteristics shortly after making landfall. No reports of damage or casualties due to Vince have been received. Wilma formed from a large area of disturbed weather that stretched across much of the Caribbean Sea during the second week of October. A surface low pressure system gradually became defined near Jamaica and a tropical depression developed about 215 miles southeast of Grand Cayman Island on 15 October. The tropical cyclone moved erratically westward and southward for two days while slowly strengthening into a tropical storm. Wilma became a hurricane and began a west-northwestward motion on 18 October. Later that day... Wilma began to explosively deepen. On 19 October it became a Category 5 hurricane...and its minimum central pressure dropped to an estimated 882 mb... while its very small eye was centered about 365 miles southeast of Cozumel. This is the lowest pressure on record for a hurricane in the Atlantic Basin. Wilma's maximum intensity is estimated to have been 175 mph. On 20 October Wilma weakened slightly and turned northwestward toward the northeastern Yucatan peninsula. On 21 October...the hurricane made landfall over Cozumel... and early the next day it made landfall over the northeastern Yucatan peninsula... both at Category 4 intensity. Wilma moved slowly and weakened over northeastern Yucatan and emerged over the Gulf of Mexico early on 23 October as a Category 2 hurricane. Later that day it turned northeastward and accelerated toward the southern Florida peninsula. The hurricane strengthened as it approached the southwestern Florida coast... and it made landfall near Cape Romano on 24 October with Category 3 intensity. The system continued to accelerate northeastward...crossing Florida in less than 5 hours. Wilma moved into the Atlantic just to the north of Palm Beach as a Category 2 hurricane. It regained Category 3 status just off the east-central coast of Florida...and gradually weakened thereafter. The hurricane moved rapidly northeastward over the western Atlantic and lost tropical characteristics about 205 miles south-southeast of Halifax Nova Scotia on 25 October. At this time...22 deaths have been directly attributed to Wilma. Wilma caused extensive damage in northeastern Yucatan...including Cancun and Cozumel...and southern Florida. The hurricane also produced major flooding over western Cuba. Damage in the United States is estimated at $14.4 billion. Due to the extremely active 2005 hurricane season... the National Hurricane Center for the first time had to resort to using the Greek alphabet when Tropical Storm Alpha formed from a vigorous tropical wave near the Windward Islands on 21 October. Shower activity became concentrated south of Puerto Rico... and radar data from the island helped determine that a tropical depression formed early on 22 October. The depression became Tropical Storm Alpha later that day. Alpha moved northwestward and data from Hispaniola indicate that the cyclone made landfall near Barahona in the Dominican Republic with 50 mph winds. Alpha weakened to a tropical depression over the high terrain of Hispaniola... and it continued northwestward and northward over the southeastern Bahamas and the Atlantic on 23 October. The cyclone weakened to a trough as it approached the much larger circulation of Hurricane Wilma on 24 October. Alpha caused 20 deaths in Hispaniola...primarily from flooding caused by heavy rains. Beta developed over the extreme southwestern Caribbean Sea from a tropical wave. A surface low pressure system formed along the wave axis near the coast of Colombia on 25 October. The system became a tropical depression the next day about 170 miles east of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. The depression moved slowly northward for a couple of days... becoming a tropical storm on 27 October. Beta strengthened into a hurricane on 29 October near Providencia Island. It then turned westward and west-southwestward and strengthened into a Category Three hurricane on 30 October. Beta weakened slightly later that day and made landfall as a Category Two hurricane on the central east coast of Nicaragua near La Barra. The cyclone moved westward over land and dissipated over western Nicaragua early on 31 October. Beta caused widespread damage on Providencia Island. Extensive damage to structures was reported along the central Nicaraguan coast. Significant flooding also occurred in Honduras. The vigorous tropical wave that spawned Gamma passed through the southern Windward Islands on 13 November and produced wind gusts to near tropical storm-force along with heavy rainfall. Early on 14 November... Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven formed over the southeastern Caribbean Sea about 100 miles west of St. Vincent Island. The depression continued on a westward track and may have briefly reached tropical storm strength on 15 November before strong westerly upper-level shear displaced the thunderstorm activity to the east and caused the cyclone to degenerate back into a tropical wave. The remnants of TD-27 accelerated westward across the central Caribbean Sea on 17 November before slowing down and reaching the western Caribbean Sea and eastern Honduras on 18 November. A large non-convective low pressure system developed over Panama and moved northwestward and merged with the remnants of TD-27 over central Honduras... and it is estimated that Tropical Storm Gamma formed near the northern coast of Honduras later that day. While the other low pressure system likely aided the generation of Tropical Storm Gamma...convection associated with the low- to mid-level vorticity center of TD-27 maintained continuity throughout its lifetime... and it is estimated that the low-level circulation of the other non-convective low merged with the remnant low-level circulation of TD-27 over the mountains of central Honduras. Gamma drifted northward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and strengthened to 55 mph east of Roatan Island on 19 November ...and turned slowly southeastward on 20-21 November. Upper-level northwesterly shear weakened the cyclone and it degenerated into a non-convective remnant low late on 21 November and dissispated on 22 November just east of the Nicaragua-Honduras border. Heavy rainfall caused flash floods and mud slides in Honduras and Belize. At this time... the flooding associated with Gamma has resulted in a total of 37 deaths... 34 in Honduras and 3 in Belize. At least 13 people in Honduras were also missing. Ten bridges were destroyed and 7 more were damaged in Honduras. Delta originated from an extratropical low over the central Atlantic. On 19 November this system was located about 1050 miles east-southeast of Bermuda. The low moved eastward and then northeastward... reaching a position about 800 miles southwest of the Azores on 22 November. The low turned southward later that day and developed into a subtropical storm. Delta continued southward on 23 November as it became a tropical storm...and winds reached an estimated 70 mph the next day while the storm moved southeastward. Delta moved erratically southward through 26 November while weakening...then it turned northeastward and and strengthened on 27 November...with winds again reaching 70 mph. Delta turned eastward and became a vigorous extratropical low on 28 November about 350 miles west-northwest of the Canary Islands. The extratropical low brought wind gusts of hurricane force to the Canary Islands on 28 November before weakening and moving into Morocco on 29 November. Seven deaths on or near the Canary Islands were attributed to the extratropical stage of Delta. Tropical Storm Epsilon...like its predecessor...developed from an extratropical low over the central Atlantic about midway between the Azores and Bermuda on 29 November. Epsilon moved west- southwestward and slowly strengthened.... and at month's end was located several hundred miles east of Bermuda and moving east-northeastward over the open waters of the central Atlantic. SUMMARY TABLE NAME DATES MAX WIND DEATHS U.S. DAMAGE MPH $MILLION --------------------------------------------------------------- TS ARLENE 8-13 JUN 70 1 MINOR TS BRET 28-29 JUN 40 1 0 TS CINDY 3-7 JUL 70 1 MINOR H DENNIS 4-13 JUL 150 41 1840 H EMILY 11-21 JUL 155 5 MINOR TS FRANKLIN 21-29 JUL 70 0 0 TS GERT 23-25 JUL 45 0 0 TS HARVEY 2-8 AUG 65 0 0 H IRENE 4-18 AUG 105 0 0 TD TEN 13-14 AUG 35 0 0 TS JOSE 22-23 AUG 50 6 0 H KATRINA 23-30 AUG 175 1200 80000 TS LEE 28 AUG - 1 SEP 40 0 0 H MARIA 1-10 SEP 115 0 0 H NATE 5-10 SEP 90 0 0 H OPHELIA 6-17 SEP 85 1 1600 H PHILIPPE 17-24 SEP 80 0 0 H RITA 18-26 SEP 175 6 9400 TD NINETEEN 30 SEP - 2 OCT 30 0 0 H STAN 1-5 OCT 80 100 0 TS TAMMY 5-6 OCT 50 0 MINOR STD TWENTY-TWO 8-10 OCT 35 0 0 H VINCE 9-11 OCT 75 0 0 H WILMA 15-25 OCT 175 22 14400 TS ALPHA 22-24 OCT 50 20 0 H BETA 26-31 OCT 115 0 0 TS GAMMA 13-20 NOV 55 37 0 TS DELTA 22-28 NOV 70 0 0 TS EPSILON 29 NOV - ?? DEC 70 0 0 -------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE...DATES BASED ON COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC) FORECASTER STEWART/BEVEN/AVILA/FRANKLIN/KNABB/PASCH $$
I wonder what some of the old terrible storms were back before we had anyway of measuring them. Like the 1900 Galveston hurricane that flooded the town and killed thousands of people. I have owned a home on the Texas Gulf coast since 1975 and hurricanes and floods have just been part of life. Living in Southern Calif. now and we have our earthquake supplies, LOTS OF BOTTLED WATER, just like we have hurricane supplis in Texas.
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