Seriously? This is one of the most incredible hurricane seasons ever. 26 named storms and the season comes to an end, supposedly, tomorrow. Granted, these storms aren't any threat to us, but Gamma just hammered Spain with near hurricane force winds. Amazing. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/11/29/tropical.epsilon.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Tropical Storm Epsilon formed Tuesday in the central Atlantic, where it was a threat only to shipping, forecasters said. The 26th named storm of the busiest Atlantic hurricane season on record was expected to be absorbed by other weather systems and shouldn't affect land, said Jennifer Pralgo, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. At 10 a.m. ET Epsilon had top sustained wind of about 45 mph. It was centered about 845 miles east of Bermuda and about 1,395 miles west of the Azores Islands. It was moving west near 8 mph and was expected to continue that movement for at least 24 hours. The six-month Atlantic hurricane season ends Wednesday, but forecasters warn that tropical storms and hurricanes can develop in December.
LOL - Because millions of years ago, there were 200 storms a year.... Or not....we don't have a big enough sampling to tell if this is abnormal or not. In fact we have only been keeping good data on the ones that are out at sea for about 50 years..... The rest we measured as they hit land, but we would not know if they spun into Mexico, or Central America, or South America etc... 50 years of data on a planet that is 4.6 billion years old is not a good barometer. DD
At first glance I thought it read Tropical Storm Epstein. My mind was suddenly racing with Welcome Back Kotter quotes.
Looking at all of the hurricane history, some one tell me how they can guess about a storm in 1854 or did they have hurricane hunters back then?
So... if one of these greek alphebet hurricanes ever became major enough to have its name retired, what are they going to do the next time up? Just skip it?
http://www.magazine.noaa.gov/stories/mag184.htm NOAA ATTRIBUTES RECENT INCREASE IN HURRICANE ACTIVITY TO NATURALLY OCCURRING MULTI-DECADAL CLIMATE VARIABILITY Nov. 29, 2005 — The nation is now wrapping up the 11th year of a new era of heightened Atlantic hurricane activity. This era has been unfolding in the Atlantic since 1995, and is expected to continue for the next decade or perhaps longer. NOAA attributes this increased activity to natural occurring cycles in tropical climate patterns near the equator. These cycles, called “the tropical multi-decadal signal,” typically last several decades (20 to 30 years or even longer). As a result, the North Atlantic experiences alternating decades long (20 to 30 year periods or even longer) of above normal or below normal hurricane seasons. NOAA research shows that the tropical multi-decadal signal is causing the increased Atlantic hurricane activity since 1995, and is not related to greenhouse warming. (Click NOAA image for larger view of North Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes, 1851 - 2004. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.") The tropical multi-decadal signal presents itself in weather events around the world, including Atlantic hurricane variability. The tropical climate patterns producing the increased activity since 1995 are similar to those during the previous active hurricane era of the late 1920s to the late 1960s (1926-1970). These patterns are opposite to the below-normal hurricane era which ran from 1970 to 1994. Since 1995, the tropical multi-decadal signal has produced lower wind shear (changing winds with height) and warmer waters across the tropical Atlantic, along with conducive winds coming off the west coast of Africa. This key combination of conditions produces active hurricane seasons. (Click NOAA image for larger view of the tropical Atlantic conditions that have prevailed since 1995. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.") With an active hurricane era comes many more landfalling tropical storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes in the United States. Since 2002, the country has experienced an average of seven landfalling tropical storms and hurricanes per season. The United States can expect ongoing high levels of landfalling tropical storms and hurricanes while we remain in this active era.
Actually, prior to 1950, they relied heavily on ships at sea to relay information about hurricanes. Ships kept detailed logs of the movement of storms and the shipping lanes between Africa and the US back in the 1800's were busy with traffic. Having a tracking map dating back that far isn't all that surprising.
I don't know why, but the irony in this story about Epsilon's predecessor seems to sum up the season for me: Meanwhile, over in Gran Canaria, it was a similar story of destruction, but while natural casualties in Tenerife were largely limited to trees, bushes and flowers, that island’s most famous landmark fell victim to Delta’s force. The emblematic rocky pinnacle known as El Dedo de Dios or God’s Finger, which had pointed skywards from the sea for millennia, a natural wonder and one of the must-see sights of the archipelago finally gave up the ghost after thousands of years and collapsed into the broiling sea. The news of the loss has left islanders in a state of shock. http://www.tenerifenews.com/cms/front_content.php?client=1&lang=1&idcat=29&idart=2983
