Tropical Weather Summary


000
ABNT30 KNHC 011322
TWSAT 
MONTHLY TROPICAL WEATHER SUMMARY...CORRECTED
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
800 AM EDT SUN OCT 1 2006

CORRECTED TO SHOW ERNESTO AS A HURRICANE IN THE SUMMARY TABLE
 
FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...
 
FOUR HURRICANES...FLORENCE...GORDON...HELENE...AND ISAAC DEVELOPED
IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN DURING SEPTEMBER.  ERNESTO...
WHICH DEVELOPED IN AUGUST...WAS STILL A TROPICAL CYCLONE AS THE
MONTH OF SEPTEMBER BEGAN.  TWO OF THE HURRICANES...GORDON AND
HELENE...BECAME MAJOR HURRICANES.  OVERALL...NEAR NORMAL LEVELS OF
TROPICAL CYCLONE ACTIVITY OCCURRED DURING SEPTEMBER.   

ERNESTO FORMED IN AUGUST AND MADE LANDFALL IN NORTH CAROLINA AT THE
END OF THAT MONTH AS A STRONG TROPICAL STORM. IT WEAKENED INLAND
AND BECAME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION OVER EASTERN VIRGINIA ON 1
SEPTEMBER. HOWEVER...THE COMBINATION OF THE DEPRESSION AND A LARGE
HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM TO ITS NORTH PRODUCED GALE FORCE WINDS OVER
MANY AREAS NEAR THE COAST OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.
ERNESTO LOST ITS TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS EARLY ON 2 SEPTEMBER. THE
SYSTEM MOVED SLOWLY NORTHWARD OVER PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK AND
WAS GRADUALLY ABSORBED INTO A FRONTAL SYSTEM DURING THE FOLLOWING
COUPLE OF DAYS.

FLORENCE ORIGINATED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE THAT LEFT THE COAST OF
AFRICA ON 29 AUGUST...AND DEVELOPED INTO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION ON 3
SEPTEMBER ABOUT 1525 MILES EAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS.
THE SYSTEM INITIALLY MOVED WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AND CONTINUED THIS
MOTION FOR THE NEXT FIVE DAYS.  THE LARGE SYSTEM BECAME A TROPICAL
STORM ON 5 SEPTEMBER.  FLORENCE TURNED NORTHWESTWARD AND
STRENGTHENED ON 9 SEPTEMBER...BECOMING A HURRICANE EARLY THE NEXT
DAY ABOUT 360 MILES SOUTH OF BERMUDA. THE HURRICANE TURNED
NORTHWARD...PASSING ABOUT 60 MILES WEST OF BERMUDA ON 11 SEPTEMBER
WHILE AT ITS ESTIMATED PEAK INTENSITY OF 90 MPH.  FLORENCE TURNED
NORTHEASTWARD LATER THAT DAY...AND BECAME EXTRATROPICAL ON 12
SEPTEMBER ABOUT 600 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CAPE RACE NEWFOUNDLAND. AS A
POWERFUL EXTRATROPICAL LOW...FLORENCE PASSED NEAR CAPE RACE ON 13
SEPTEMBER...THEN MOVED EASTWARD INTO THE OPEN NORTH ATLANTIC FOR
SEVERAL DAYS.

FLORENCE BROUGHT HURRICANE CONDITIONS TO BERMUDA...CAUSING
WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES...MINOR DAMAGE...AND A FEW INJURIES.  AS
AN EXTRATROPICAL LOW...FLORENCE BROUGHT HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS TO
SOUTHEASTERN NEWFOUNDLAND...WHERE MINOR DAMAGE WAS REPORTED AS
WELL.

GORDON FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE THAT LEFT THE WEST COAST OF
AFRICA ON 1 SEPTEMBER.  AS THE WAVE MOVED WESTWARD FOR ABOUT A
WEEK...DEVELOPMENT WAS HINDERED BY NEARBY HURRICANE FLORENCE. BY 9
SEPTEMBER...FLORENCE HAD MOVED FAR ENOUGH AWAY FROM THE WAVE TO
ALLOW THE SYSTEM TO DEVELOP...AND THE FOLLOWING DAY A TROPICAL
DEPRESSION FORMED ABOUT 525 EAST-NORTHEAST OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS.
THE DEPRESSION STRENGTHENED INTO A TROPICAL STORM ON 11 SEPTEMBER
AND TURNED TOWARD THE NORTHWEST.  LATE ON 12 SEPTEMBER...GORDON
BECAME A HURRICANE AND STARTED MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH. IT
INTENSIFIED RAPIDLY ON 13 SEPTEMBER AND REACHED ITS PEAK INTENSITY
OF 120 MPH ABOUT 555 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA.  MOVING
NORTHEASTWARD OVER THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC...GORDON MAINTAINED MAJOR
HURRICANE STATUS FOR ABOUT A DAY.  THE CYCLONE THEN STALLED OVER
THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC FOR A COUPLE DAYS AND WEAKENED.  AN
UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH FINALLY ACCELERATED GORDON NORTHEASTWARD ON 17
SEPTEMBER.  THE TROPICAL CYCLONE TURNED TOWARD THE EAST ON 19
SEPTEMBER AND STRENGTHENED...REACHING A SECOND PEAK INTENSITY OF
105 MPH ABOUT 630 MILES WEST OF THE AZORES.  GORDON WEAKENED AND
PASSED NEAR THE SOUTHERNMOST AZORES EARLY ON 20 SEPTEMBER...THEN
WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL STORM BEFORE BECOMING EXTRATROPICAL LATE IN
THE DAY.  THE EXTRATROPICAL REMNANTS OF GORDON WERE ABSORBED BY A
LARGER LOW ON THE NEXT DAY AND CONTRIBUTED TO HEAVY RAIN AND HIGH
WINDS OVER PARTS OF WESTERN EUROPE AND THE BRITISH ISLES.

HELENE DEVELOPED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE THAT EMERGED FROM THE COAST OF
AFRICA ON 11 SEPTEMBER.  LOCATED OVER THE FAR EASTERN ATLANTIC...
THE TROPICAL WAVE ACQUIRED ENOUGH ORGANIZATION THE NEXT DAY TO BE
CLASSIFIED AS A TROPICAL DEPRESSION.  THE LARGE DEPRESSION PASSED
ABOUT 200 MILES SOUTH OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS BEFORE
STRENGTHENING TO A TROPICAL STORM EARLY ON 14 SEPTEMBER.  MOVING
WEST-NORTHWESTWARD OVER THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC...HELENE GRADUALLY
STRENGTHENED AND BECAME A HURRICANE ON 16 SEPTEMBER WHILE LOCATED
ABOUT 1150 MILES EAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS.  THE NEXT
DAY...THE HURRICANE SLOWED DOWN AND TURN NORTHWESTWARD WHILE
CONTINUING TO INTENSIFY.  HELENE BECAME A MAJOR HURRICANE ON 18
SEPTEMBER AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER REACHED AN ESTIMATED PEAK
INTENSITY OF 125 MPH.  ON 19 SEPTEMBER...THE HURRICANE MOVED
WESTWARD BRIEFLY AND WEAKENED TO A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE.  HELENE
THEN TURNED NORTHWARD ON 20 SEPTEMBER AHEAD OF A LARGE DEEP-LAYER
TROUGH MOVING OFF THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES.  HELENE
PASSED ABOUT 525 MILES EAST OF BERMUDA EARLY ON 21 SEPTEMBER AND
THEN TURNED EAST-NORTHEASTWARD OVER THE OPEN WATERS OF THE CENTRAL
ATLANTIC.  HELENE RETAINED HURRICANE STRENGTH UNTIL BECOMING
EXTRATROPICAL ON 24 SEPTEMBER ABOUT 600 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF THE
AZORES. THE EXTRATROPICAL LOW GRADUALLY WEAKENED AND PASSED NEAR
NORTHWESTERN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND ON 27 SEPTEMBER.

ISAAC DEVELOPED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE THAT EXITED THE COAST OF AFRICA
ON 18 SEPTEMBER. THIS LARGE WAVE AND ASSOCIATED SHOWER AND
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS TRACKED FOR NINE DAYS AS IT MOVED
WEST-NORTHWESTWARD ACROSS THE EASTERN ATLANTIC.  ON 27 SEPTEMBER...
THE SYSTEM ACQUIRED SUFFICIENT ORGANIZATION TO BE DESIGNATED AS A
TROPICAL DEPRESSION ABOUT 810 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA.  THE
DEPRESSION STRENGTHENED TO A TROPICAL STORM ON THE 28 SEPTEMBER AND
BECAME A HURRICANE ABOUT 370 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA ON 30
SEPTEMBER.  AT MONTH'S END...ISAAC WAS MOVING NORTHWARD OVER THE
CENTRAL ATLANTIC. 

SUMMARY TABLE

NAME             DATES        MAX WIND   DEATHS   U.S. DAMAGE
                                MPH                $MILLION
---------------------------------------------------------------
H ERNESTO     24 AUG-2 SEP       75         2          N/A
H FLORENCE     3-12 SEP          90         0          0
H GORDON      10-20 SEP         120         0          0
H HELENE      12-24 SEP         125         0          0
H ISAAC       27 SEP-            85         0          0
--------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE...DATES BASED ON COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC)
N/A...NOT AVAILABLE
  
$$
FORECASTER BROWN/BEVEN/BLAKE/MAINELLI/KNABB/FRANKLIN