Monday, August 31, 2015

Hurricane History Made

A Hurricane making History !

Can you imagine living in an area that is the birth place of many tropical systems and yet never get hit by a hurricane? Well, that came to an end on Monday.

Hurricane "Fred", became a hurricane Monday at 2 am in the Far (and we mean FAR) Eastern Atlantic. It is impacting the Cape Verde islands with wind and rain. The Cape Verde Islands are just off the West Coast of Africa. 

Satellite imagery:
Shows a well defined system that should remain as a hurricane for at least another day.

It is moving northwest however, and will be entering into some cold waters soon.

That will spell the end of "Fred" and it should dissipate by the weekend if not before.


Cape Verde Season:


This time of year is known as "Cape Verde Season", because plenty of disturbances move off Africa and move either over or near the islands making their way across the Atlantic.

They have seen their fair share of killer tropical storms, but never a full blown hurricane. The deadliest Tropical Storm was in 1984 by the name of "Fran". It had torrential downpours that caused major floods  killing over two dozen people.


Even though the Cape Verde islands have a season named after them, they rarely get hit by a hurricane.

According to NHC's official Hurricane records, "Fred" is the first hurricane to impact the islands since 1892.

They caution that records began in 1851, but those records are unreliable to a certain extent because they can't be verified.

Since the advent of weather satellites in the 1960s, those eyes in the sky help to verify the existence of a storm.

The previous close-call was "Jeanne" in 1998. It reached hurricane strength as it passed south of the islands by roughly 100 miles. 

In the long run, this history making Hurricane will die out over the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

3 comments:

  1. Is there a possibility of a hurricane hitting Miami

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  2. Anything is a possibility... Last one was back in 2005, Wilma. No power for 2 weeks

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  3. We should hit the peak of hurricane season by mid September. Our peak in South Florida is mid October. Plenty of time left for something to grow..

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