← Older revision
Revision as of 02:06, August 29, 2016
Line 137:
Line 137:
After remaining dormant for nearly two months after the official start, tropical cyclogenesis first began with '''Hurricane Alex''' in the western Caribbean Sea. Alex traveled north-northeast across the Gulf of Mexico and eventually became a minimal hurricane prior to making landfall in the western Florida panhandle. Alex was the first hurricane landfall in the state of Florida in over a decade since 2005's Hurricane Wilma. Alex later transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone over New England on July 27.
After remaining dormant for nearly two months after the official start, tropical cyclogenesis first began with '''Hurricane Alex''' in the western Caribbean Sea. Alex traveled north-northeast across the Gulf of Mexico and eventually became a minimal hurricane prior to making landfall in the western Florida panhandle. Alex was the first hurricane landfall in the state of Florida in over a decade since 2005's Hurricane Wilma. Alex later transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone over New England on July 27.
=== August ===
=== August ===
−
Tropical cyclogenesis began once again on August 2, after an occluded cyclone separated from its frontal boundaries and became '''Tropical Depression Two''' east of North Carolina. Two failed to intensify beyond tropical depression status and later brushed Massachussets. The remnants of the system later made landfall in Nova Scotia, where it produced heavy rainfall and flooding. '''Hurricane Bonnie''' soon followed, forming out of a Cape Verde tropical wave. The system later intensified to a minimal hurricane east of the Leeward Islands, soon making landfall over Antigua and later emerging over the Caribbean. Bonnie would later acquire Category 2 status. On August 13, Bonnie began rapidly intensifying and soon attained Category
4
status shortly before striking the island nation of Jamaica. Bonnie then curved sharply northwest and made landfall over central Cuba as a Category 4 hurricane. Emerging over the Gulf of Mexico, the cyclone continued to undergo rapid intensification and made landfall over Mississippi as a strong Category 3 hurricane. The remnant low dissipated over northwestern Ohio a day later. '''Hurricane Colin''' formed near Cape Verde. Colin would later pass directly over the Cape Verde islands, casing problems with heavy rainfall. Taking a general westward track across the central tropical Atlantic, Colin eventually passed over the Lesser Antilles as a tropical storm, compounding damage in the same region previously affected by Hurricane Bonnie days earlier. Colin briefly re-attained hurricane status in the open Caribbean prior to making landfall over Belize as a tropical storm.
+
Tropical cyclogenesis began once again on August 2, after an occluded cyclone separated from its frontal boundaries and became '''Tropical Depression Two''' east of North Carolina. Two failed to intensify beyond tropical depression status and later brushed Massachussets. The remnants of the system later made landfall in Nova Scotia, where it produced heavy rainfall and flooding. '''Hurricane Bonnie''' soon followed, forming out of a Cape Verde tropical wave. The system later intensified to a minimal hurricane east of the Leeward Islands, soon making landfall over Antigua and later emerging over the Caribbean. Bonnie would later acquire Category 2 status. On August 13, Bonnie began rapidly intensifying and soon attained Category
3
status shortly before striking the island nation of Jamaica. Bonnie then curved sharply northwest and made landfall over central Cuba as a Category 4 hurricane. Emerging over the Gulf of Mexico, the cyclone continued to undergo rapid intensification and made landfall over Mississippi as a strong Category 3 hurricane. The remnant low dissipated over northwestern Ohio a day later. '''Hurricane Colin''' formed near Cape Verde. Colin would later pass directly over the Cape Verde islands, casing problems with heavy rainfall. Taking a general westward track across the central tropical Atlantic, Colin eventually passed over the Lesser Antilles as a tropical storm, compounding damage in the same region previously affected by Hurricane Bonnie days earlier. Colin briefly re-attained hurricane status in the open Caribbean prior to making landfall over Belize as a tropical storm.
== Tropical Outlook ==
== Tropical Outlook ==
<pre>
<pre>
Line 162:
Line 162:
On August 4, the [[Sass Master Weather Center|SMWC]] began monitoring a surface area of low pressure associated with a tropical wave just northwest of Cape Verde. The wave rapidly consolidated, attaining all the characteristics of a tropical cyclone the same day. At the 00:00 UTC advisory, the wave was found to have sustained tropical storm-force winds. However, SMWC recon flights failed to identify a lower-level closed circulation, preventing classification as a tropical storm. Over the next several days, the system, dubbed ''Invest 92L'', tracked across the central tropical Atlantic without undergoing much change in strength or organization. On August 9, a special advisory was initiated at 04:00 UTC after reconnaissance aircraft found a LLCC within the center of the storm, thus resulting in the classification of Tropical Storm Bonnie while situated 164 miles east of the Leeward Islands. At the 14:00 UTC advisory the same day, it was found that a clear convective core existed in the center of circulation, with an ASCAT pass revealing the presence of three 55-knot vectors within the cyclone. This prompted an upgrade to 55 knots at the advisory. Over the next several days, a ridge of high pressure centered over the eastern Caribbean further stalled Bonnie just east of the Leeward Islands.
On August 4, the [[Sass Master Weather Center|SMWC]] began monitoring a surface area of low pressure associated with a tropical wave just northwest of Cape Verde. The wave rapidly consolidated, attaining all the characteristics of a tropical cyclone the same day. At the 00:00 UTC advisory, the wave was found to have sustained tropical storm-force winds. However, SMWC recon flights failed to identify a lower-level closed circulation, preventing classification as a tropical storm. Over the next several days, the system, dubbed ''Invest 92L'', tracked across the central tropical Atlantic without undergoing much change in strength or organization. On August 9, a special advisory was initiated at 04:00 UTC after reconnaissance aircraft found a LLCC within the center of the storm, thus resulting in the classification of Tropical Storm Bonnie while situated 164 miles east of the Leeward Islands. At the 14:00 UTC advisory the same day, it was found that a clear convective core existed in the center of circulation, with an ASCAT pass revealing the presence of three 55-knot vectors within the cyclone. This prompted an upgrade to 55 knots at the advisory. Over the next several days, a ridge of high pressure centered over the eastern Caribbean further stalled Bonnie just east of the Leeward Islands.
−
Maintaining strength, the cyclone began intensifying once again on August 13, with a recon flight reporting 1-minute sustained winds of 65 knots, thus, upgrading Bonnie to a Category 1 hurricane. Prompting the issuance of a special advisory at 17:00 UTC, Bonnie began moving over the Leeward Islands just hours later. Approximately 20:00 UTC, Bonnie made landfall over the island of Antigua as a Category 1 hurricane with 65 kt winds. That evening, Bonnie departed the Leeward Islands and emerged into the Caribbean. Above-average SSTs coupled with lessening wind shear provided the necessary ingredients for further intensification, and at the 14:00 UTC advisory, Bonnie was upgraded to 80 knots following a significant improvement in organization. Bonnie continued to intensify, becoming a Category 2 hurricane at 20:00 UTC. Over the next several hours, Bonnie rapidly grew in size as its diameter measured 215 miles across. At the next advisory, Bonnie nearly became a major hurricane after attaining winds of 95 knots and a minimum pressure of 969. Bonnie
is
expected
to
strike
Jamaica
in
the
next
36
hours
. At
10
am
August
15
,
it
became
a major hurricane.
+
Maintaining strength, the cyclone began intensifying once again on August 13, with a recon flight reporting 1-minute sustained winds of 65 knots, thus, upgrading Bonnie to a Category 1 hurricane. Prompting the issuance of a special advisory at 17:00 UTC, Bonnie began moving over the Leeward Islands just hours later. Approximately 20:00 UTC, Bonnie made landfall over the island of Antigua as a Category 1 hurricane with 65 kt winds. That evening, Bonnie departed the Leeward Islands and emerged into the Caribbean. Above-average SSTs coupled with lessening wind shear provided the necessary ingredients for further intensification, and at the 14:00 UTC advisory, Bonnie was upgraded to 80 knots following a significant improvement in organization. Bonnie continued to intensify, becoming a Category 2 hurricane at 20:00 UTC. Over the next several hours, Bonnie rapidly grew in size as its diameter measured 215 miles across. At the next advisory, Bonnie nearly became a major hurricane after attaining winds of 95 knots and a minimum pressure of 969.
On August 15,
Bonnie
attained
major hurricane status hours prior
to
striking
Jamaica
,
the
first
of
the season
. At
the
subsequent
advisory,
Bonnie attained winds of 105 knots while the northern eyewall made a direct hit on the island nation of Jamaica. Following that
,
a
ridge to the cyclone's southwest forced the hurricane on
a
more northwesterly path, inducing a direct over both the Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. The following day, a special advisory initiated at 06:00 UTC required new hurricane warnings for central Cuba as Bonnie intensified to a Category 4
major hurricane.
+
In the early morning hours of August 16, Bonnie made landfall over Tunas de Zaza in the province of Sancti Spiritus with winds of 115 knots - the strongest hurricane landfall in the country since Sandy of 2012. As Bonnie passed directly over the country, it lost little strength due to its quick movement to the northwest. At 011:00 UTC, Bonnie emerged over the Gulf of Mexico as a slightly weaker Category 3 hurricane. Due to virtually no shear in the vicinity of Bonnie's cone, coupled with extremely warm SSTs over the Loop Current, Bonnie rapidly re-attained Category 4 status. The next day, Bonnie continued to expand as its forward motion slowed due to an approaching trough over the eastern United States. Soon after, the hurricane attained its peak winds of 120 knots over the central Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Warnings were hoisted all across the Gulf Coast of the United States due to uncertainty in the cyclone's forecast track. Continuing on a direct track to the north-northwest, the storm began weakening as upwelling began to overpower it. Early the subsequent day, Bonnie made landfall near Pascagoula, Mississippi with winds of approximately 110 knots. Due to a very small eye and compact convection, the most intense winds avoided densely populated areas. Nevertheless, many smaller communities in the hurricane's path suffered enormous damage as Bonnie was the first major hurricane landfall in the United States in over ten years - the first since Hurricane Wilma of 2005. Bonnie then made a slight shift to the northeast as its core of convection collapsed completely. The remnant system remained intact as it tracked across the eastern United States, later dissipating over central Ohio.
=== Hurricane Colin ===
=== Hurricane Colin ===
{{Infobox tropical cyclone current|name = Colin|typecolor = ffffcc|type = C1|status = Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)|Winds = 90 mph|Wind Type = 1-minute sustained|Pressure = 968|Pressure Type = mbar|Location = Over the open Atlantic|Movement Direction = W|Movement Speed = 14 mph|time = August 15, 2016, 07:00 PM EDT|advisory number = 7|color = ffffcc|Image = Fred 2015-08-30 1435z.jpg}}
{{Infobox tropical cyclone current|name = Colin|typecolor = ffffcc|type = C1|status = Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)|Winds = 90 mph|Wind Type = 1-minute sustained|Pressure = 968|Pressure Type = mbar|Location = Over the open Atlantic|Movement Direction = W|Movement Speed = 14 mph|time = August 15, 2016, 07:00 PM EDT|advisory number = 7|color = ffffcc|Image = Fred 2015-08-30 1435z.jpg}}