Recapping the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season

| November 30, 2007 @ 8:44 pm | 2 Replies

The 2007 North Atlantic Hurricane Season has been an active one, but you may not have noticed. You probably haven’t noticed because there have only been two landfalling U.S. tropical storms (Erin and Gabrielle) and one U.S. landfalling hurricane (Humberto.) And those weren’t even headline storms. Tropical Storm Bary weakened to a depression before making landfall in Florida.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been some intense hurricanes, and some deadly ones.

All weekend we will be looking back at the 2007 season, that came to an end officially yesterday.

There have been fourteen named storms this season, five of which became hurricanes. Two of the hurricanes went on to become major hurricanes, Dean and Felix. The long term climatology according to the Colorado State team is 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 major hurricanes. My calculations from 1950-2006 indicate the long term averages have increased to 10.7 named storms, 6.2 hurricanes and 2.6 major hurricanes. If you look at the era since 1995, the annual averages are 14.75 named storms, 8.2 hurricanes and 3.9 major hurricanes.

Andrea, the first named storm of the year formed early on May 9th off the northeastern coast of Florida. Wind shear and dry air spelled the demise of Andrea the next day.

Tropical Storm Barry formed on the afternoon of June 1st over the southeastern Gulf, just north of the western tip of Cuba. It moved quickly northeast, weakening as it went because of strong upper level winds, making landfall just north of Tampa as a tropical depression. It continued up the East Coast as an extratropical storm. At its peak, Barry had top winds of 60 mph.

Tropical Storm Chantal formed between Bermuda and Cape Cod late on the evening of July 30th. It was named the following morning, but quickly found itself over cool water and it quickly became extratropical the following night. Top winds wre 50 mph.

Hurricane Dean was the first of two Category Five hurricanes observed during the year. The other was Hurricane Felix. Dean formed in the far eastern Atlantic on August 13th. As it steamed westward, it was named the following day and became a hurricane on the 16th. It passed through the Lesser Antilles as a Category Two hurricane with sustained winds of 100 mph. It would become a major hurricane later the same day. The major hurricane stayed strong as it traversed the Caribbean. It passed just south of Jamaica on August 19th, sparing the island nation a devastating strike. Dean became a Category Five hurricane early on the 21st and made landfall in a relatively sparsely populated part of the Yucatan that night. With a minimum central pressure of 906 mb Emerging over the Bay of Campeche, a greatly weakened Dean rebounded to Category Two status before making final landfall 40 miles south of Tuxpan, Mexico. Forty people died in the hurricane’s rampage through the Caribbean to Mexico.

Tropical Storm Erin formed over the western Gulf on August 15th. Its intensity peaked at 40 mph and no further strengthening
occurred with the poortly organized storm. It made landfall near Lamar, Texas on the morning of August 16th. The most remarkable aspects of Erin ocurred after the storm made landfall. As it turned northeastward over Oklahoma, it caused sustained tropical storm force winds with gusts to hurricane force. Erin brought heavy rains from Texas to Missouri.

Hurricane Felix formed on August 31st about 200 miles east southeast of the Windward Islands. It passed near Grenada late that day as a tropical storm. Felix intensified rapidly and graduated to Category Five status late on September 2nd southeast of Jamaica, but weakened as it underwent an eyewall replacement. It re-intensified to Category Five status before it made landfall on September 4th near Punta Gorda, Nicaragua. A little over one hundred fatalities were reported in Nicaragua and Honduras.

Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed as a subtropical storm late on September 7th about 425 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It became a tropical storm on the 8th. The storm reached peak intensity just before making landfall on September 9th on the Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina. Gabrielle did move back offshore, but weakened as it moved toward Nova Scotia.

Hurricane Humberto formed from an old frontal trough over the Gulf of Mexico. It was classified as a tropical depression on September 12th less than 100 miles south of Galveston. Within a few hours, it was a tropical storm and it intensified rapidly, becoming a hurricane just before it moved inland near High Island. It was one of the fastest intensifications from depression to hurricane in recorded history, gong from 35 mph to 90 mph in just fourteen hours. Humberto caused $500 million in damage and caused one fatality. Humberto was the first U.S. landfalling hurricane since Wilma in 2005.

Tropical Storm Ingrid formed from a tropical wave, one of the 100 or so that move across the Atlantic each season. It was classified as a depression on September 12th, while it was still 1125 miles easy of the Lesser Antilles. Early on the 14th, the system was upgraded to tropical storm status and it was named Ingrid. Ingrid weakend as a result of wind shear and never made it to the islands.

Tropical Storm Jerry formed over the Central Atlantic as Subtropical Depression, becoming a Subtropical Storm the same day, September 23rd. It acquired tropical characteristics the next day. It dissipated the same day as it was absorbed by a frontal system.

Karen formed on September 25th over the eastern Atlantic, quickly becoming a tropical storm. Karen reached hurricane status on the 26th, but weakened as wind shear increased.

Hurricane Lorenzo developed as a tropical depression on September 25th over the western Gulf. While about 130 miles east of Tuxpan, Mexico, the system intenisifed rapidly, becoming a tropical storm on the 27th and a hurricane early the next day. Peak winds were 80 mph. There were three deaths in Mexico due to Lorenzo.

Tropical Storm Melissa formed near the Cape Verde Islands, becoming a depression on September 28th. It reached peak intensity of 45 mph the following day, but as happened with so many storms this year, it weakened back to depression status on September 30th.

That made for eight named storms in September, tying the record for any month.

Tropical Storm Noel was born from the interaction between a tropical wave and a trough of low pressure near Puerto Rico. It became a depression about 200 miles south of Haiti on October 28th. It became a tropical storm before making landfall on the south coast of Haiti. The storm moved over eastern Cuba and emerged over the Atlantic on Halloween, turning north and northeast. Noel became a hurricane as it crossed the northwestern Bahamas causing severe flooding and mudslides across the Dominican Republic and Haiti. At least 125 fatalities were reported in the Caribbean, making Noel the deadliest Atlantic hurricane of the year. As it raced north northeast, Noel lost tropical characteristics on the evening of the 2nd. It brought high winds to eastern Massachusetts and Nova Scotia as it became a powerful extratropical system.

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About the Author ()

Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorian

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