Assignment #3
Florence, a Retrospective
The North Atlantic Hurricane Season in 2004 was unusual in respect to the number of storms as well as the damage these storms bought to the Southeast United States. Florida, after having been struck by only one major hurricane in over 35 years experienced landfall of three storms of category two or higher. The season also was exceptional in having an tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic Basin for each day of the season. One storm, Ivan, lasted for ten days and earned the distinction of being the hurricane of longest duration in the North Atlantic since 1900.
Another hurricane of long duration, Hurricane Frances, is the subject of this detailed review. By examining the structure of Frances during its life, factors that favored the development of tropical storms and led to their track toward the Southeast United States should be elucidated.
Like many North Atlantic Hurricanes, Florence was spawned from he seeds of middle atmospheric disturbance known as an easterly or tropical wave.
During the North Atlantic Hurricane season tropical waves appear off the west African Coast every three or four day and are propelled west at 10 to 15 knots across the Ocean toward the Caribbean. Divergence aloft is most prominent in the East Atlantic just behind the trough representing the wave. Here convection occurs with resultant high clouds as represented by this infrared satellite image from August 21, 2004 at 0600UTC.
Infrared satellite image from Metsat Satellite showing convection east of tropical wave emerging
from the African West Coast on August 21, 2004 at 0600Z. The depression associated with this wave
would be the seed for the development of tropical Storm 06 and Tropical Storm Frances.
At this time the trough associated with the depression was evident
on chart of 950 millibar geopotential heights shown below.
Florence, a Retrospective
The North Atlantic Hurricane Season in 2004 was unusual in respect to the number of storms as well as the damage these storms bought to the Southeast United States. Florida, after having been struck by only one major hurricane in over 35 years experienced landfall of three storms of category two or higher. The season also was exceptional in having an tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic Basin for each day of the season. One storm, Ivan, lasted for ten days and earned the distinction of being the hurricane of longest duration in the North Atlantic since 1900.
Another hurricane of long duration, Hurricane Frances, is the subject of this detailed review. By examining the structure of Frances during its life, factors that favored the development of tropical storms and led to their track toward the Southeast United States should be elucidated.
Like many North Atlantic Hurricanes, Florence was spawned from he seeds of middle atmospheric disturbance known as an easterly or tropical wave.
During the North Atlantic Hurricane season tropical waves appear off the west African Coast every three or four day and are propelled west at 10 to 15 knots across the Ocean toward the Caribbean. Divergence aloft is most prominent in the East Atlantic just behind the trough representing the wave. Here convection occurs with resultant high clouds as represented by this infrared satellite image from August 21, 2004 at 0600UTC.
Infrared satellite image from Metsat Satellite showing convection east of tropical wave emerging
from the African West Coast on August 21, 2004 at 0600Z. The depression associated with this wave
would be the seed for the development of tropical Storm 06 and Tropical Storm Frances.
At this time the trough associated with the depression was evident
on chart of 950 millibar geopotential heights shown below.