On August 31, a westward-moving tropical depression formed east of the Windward Islands. It organized enough to be classified the next day as Tropical Storm Felix, and intensified later that day into a hurricane. Hurricane Felix continued to move westward over very warm waters and intensified into a Category 5 storm by late on September 2. Felix weakened briefly overnight and then strengthened into a Category 5 storm again before it struck northeastern Nicaragua on September 4. The rugged terrain of Central America weakened the storm significantly such that it was downgraded to a tropical depression on September 5. The strongest winds in Hurricane Felix were 270 km/hr (146 knots or 168 mph), and its lowest pressure was 929 mb. More information on Hurricane Felix is available from the NOAA National Hurricane Center.
An area of low pressure off the Carolina coast developed into Subtropical Storm Gabrielle on September 7. Reconnaissance aircraft data suggested the presence of a weak warm core on the 8th, prompting a reclassification of Gabrielle as a tropical storm. The system passed over the Outer Banks of North Carolina on the ninth, and weakened to a depression the next day as it moved northeast. The final advisory was issued on September 11. The strongest winds in Tropical Storm Gabrielle were 85 km/hr (46 knots or 53 mph), and its lowest pressure was 1004 mb. More information on Tropical Storm Gabrielle is available from the NOAA National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Humberto began as an area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms off the coast of western Cuba on September 8. These storms moved slowly west-northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico and organized enough to be classified as Tropical Depression Nine on the morning of September 12. Within a few hours, the tropical depression had strengthened into Tropical Storm Humberto. The system turned northward and continued to intensify until it reached hurricane status early in the morning of September 13. Hurricane Humberto made landfall around 0700 UTC near High Island, Texas as a Category 1 hurricane. The storm rapidly weakened as it traveled northeast over land and dropped heavy amounts of precipitation on Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Georgia and the Carolinas. Humberto is blamed for the death of a man who was killed by a falling carport in Bridge City, Texas. The strongest winds in Hurricane Humberto were 135 km/hr (73 knots or 85 mph), and its lowest pressure was 986 mb. More information on Hurricane Humberto is available from the NOAA National Hurricane Center. |
Tropical Depression Sixteen organized on the evening of October 27 over the eastern Caribbean. This storm intensified and became Tropical Storm Noel the next afternoon. Tropical Storm Noel made landfall in Haiti on October 29, then slowly passed through the western Caribbean near Cuba for the next few days, bringing torrential rain to the region. Noel, moving into the westerlies, picked up a little speed as it traveled northeastward through the Bahamas. Taking the opportunity of a brief period of decreased shear, Tropical Storm Noel strengthened into a hurricane on November 1. Simultaneously, a mid-level short wave began interacting with Noel, signaling the storm’s impending extratropical transition. On November 2, Hurricane Noel began transitioning to a strong extratropical cyclone with sustained winds remaining at the Category 1 hurricane level. This slow transition continued as the storm moved northeast through November 4, when it passed over Labrador. At least 148 people lost their lives to Noel in the Caribbean. The strongest winds in Hurricane Noel were 130 km/hr (70 knots or 80 mph), and its lowest pressure was 980 mb. More information on Hurricane Noel is available from the NOAA National Hurricane Center. |
