Post by Paddy by Grace on Nov 14, 2008 10:25:11 GMT -7
Hat tip: Israel Shomer/War Report
Hurricane season sets records - www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2008/11/hurricane-season-sets-records.html - November 10, 2008 3:41 PM
Over the weekend, Hurricane Paloma set another of those records that sends chills down spines in the Caribbean - for the first time major hurricanes formed in five successive months, from July through November. And the total energy carried by storms this year is double that of last year.
The hurricane season in the north Atlantic officially runs from June to the end of November. The odd storm may blow up in May or December, but usually the most storms and the strongest ones come from mid-August to mid-October. By early November, residents of hurricane-prone areas usually can relax.
Not this year. Paloma formed as a tropical depression off Nicaragua on Wednesday morning, and reached tropical storm strength Thursday. That night it reached hurricane strength, and then turned northeast toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba. It peaked at Category 4 strength on Saturday, and weakened slightly before hitting Cuba.
Only one other storm has been recorded at Category 4 in November, Hurricane Lenny the 12th and final tropical storm of 1999. Lenny was slightly stronger, just short of becoming a devastating Category 5 storm.
Paloma is the 16th named storm of this year, and the fifth to reach at least Category 3. Hurricane Bertha churned the mid-Atlantic in July, Hurricane Gustav hit Haiti, Cuba and Louisiana in August, Hurricane Ike clobbered Cuba and Texas in September, and Hurricane Omar in October brushed the edge of Puerto Rico.
Those big winds have packed a big punch. This year's Accumulated Cyclone Index, which measures total energy carried by tropical storms, is now nearly double the total for 2007, which saw 15 tropical storms in the Atlantic, including six hurricanes and two major hurricanes, both of which reached Category 5 over the Caribbean before hitting central America. This year's total includes 8 hurricanes and five major hurricanes.
This year's 16 puts it fourth on the list since 1944, tied with 2003. Only three years had more tropical storms: 2005 with 28, 1995 with 19, and 1969, also with 19, although not all were named at the time.
Both Cuba and the US Gulf Coast hope Paloma is the season's last big wind. But it's only November 10. That worst of hurricane years, 2005, ended with Tropical Storm Zeta still blowing in the mid-Atlantic.
Jeff Hecht, New Scientist correspondent
Hurricane season sets records - www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2008/11/hurricane-season-sets-records.html - November 10, 2008 3:41 PM
Over the weekend, Hurricane Paloma set another of those records that sends chills down spines in the Caribbean - for the first time major hurricanes formed in five successive months, from July through November. And the total energy carried by storms this year is double that of last year.
The hurricane season in the north Atlantic officially runs from June to the end of November. The odd storm may blow up in May or December, but usually the most storms and the strongest ones come from mid-August to mid-October. By early November, residents of hurricane-prone areas usually can relax.
Not this year. Paloma formed as a tropical depression off Nicaragua on Wednesday morning, and reached tropical storm strength Thursday. That night it reached hurricane strength, and then turned northeast toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba. It peaked at Category 4 strength on Saturday, and weakened slightly before hitting Cuba.
Only one other storm has been recorded at Category 4 in November, Hurricane Lenny the 12th and final tropical storm of 1999. Lenny was slightly stronger, just short of becoming a devastating Category 5 storm.
Paloma is the 16th named storm of this year, and the fifth to reach at least Category 3. Hurricane Bertha churned the mid-Atlantic in July, Hurricane Gustav hit Haiti, Cuba and Louisiana in August, Hurricane Ike clobbered Cuba and Texas in September, and Hurricane Omar in October brushed the edge of Puerto Rico.
Those big winds have packed a big punch. This year's Accumulated Cyclone Index, which measures total energy carried by tropical storms, is now nearly double the total for 2007, which saw 15 tropical storms in the Atlantic, including six hurricanes and two major hurricanes, both of which reached Category 5 over the Caribbean before hitting central America. This year's total includes 8 hurricanes and five major hurricanes.
This year's 16 puts it fourth on the list since 1944, tied with 2003. Only three years had more tropical storms: 2005 with 28, 1995 with 19, and 1969, also with 19, although not all were named at the time.
Both Cuba and the US Gulf Coast hope Paloma is the season's last big wind. But it's only November 10. That worst of hurricane years, 2005, ended with Tropical Storm Zeta still blowing in the mid-Atlantic.
Jeff Hecht, New Scientist correspondent