ALL JANUARY-APRIL TROPICAL STORMS (1851-2012):
Hey everyone,
This blog entry will constitute the very first one I have posted for this new year. With that in mind, I hope and pray each one of you are having a truly blessed year, thus far.
Since we are currently at a point in the calendar year where one doesn't expect to see any tropical cyclone (TC) development-in the North Atlantic basin-I thought it would be interesting to some if we examined the entire historical record (1851-present), with a focus on TC activity that developed during the first four months of a calendar year.
For the purpose of this research endeavor, tropical cyclone activity will be defined as, and correspond to, any TC that initially developed and achieved tropical storm intensity during the four-month period of January 1-April 30. Those TC's (shown by year) that achieved hurricane (H) and/or major hurricane (MH) intensity will be designated by bold case print.
ALL TROPICAL STORMS:
Note: These totals include Subtropical storms (STS) as well.
JANUARY: (2 total)
1938, 1978 (STS).
In addition: There were 2 other TC's that initially achieved TS intensity in December that at least maintained TS intensity into the month of January. They are Storm #2 of 1954 (H Alice) and storm #28 of 2005 (TS Zeta). Hurricane Alice became a H on December 31, 1954 and maintained H intensity into the month of January of 1955!
This is a visible satellite image of Subtropical storm One from January 20, 1978. It remains one of only two TC's ever known to have achieved TS intensity during the month of January-within the Atlantic basin.
FEBRUARY: (1 total)
1952.
MARCH: (1 total)
1908.
APRIL: (2 total)
1992 (STS) and 2003.
This is a visible satellite image of TS "Ana", taken near peak intensity, on April 21, 2003. It achieved a maximum intensity of 60 mph and a lowest minimum pressure of 994 mb.
ALL U.S. TROPICAL STORM LANDFALLS/STRIKES:
January:
None.
February:
1952.
This is a "WU" track map of the earliest known tropical storm to ever make landfall in the U.S. It crossed the U.S. shoreline near Cape Sable, Fl., as a 50 mph TS with a lowest barometric pressure of 1004 mb, around 10:30 pm on February 2, 1952.
March:
None.
April:
None.
INTERESTING FACTS:
1) There has been at least one STS (Subtropical Storm) or TS (Tropical Storm) observed in every single month of the calendar year.
2) There were a total of 5 TS's or STS's that initially developed between January 1 and April 30 during the entire climatological period of 1851-2012 (162 years). That would equate to a statistical mean of one TS or STS every 32.4 years.
3) There were a total of 3 TC's that achieved (or maintained) hurricane intensity-in the first four-month period of a calendar year-corresponding to the aforementioned 162 year period. This would equate to one hurricane every 54 years.
4) The earliest known STS or TS to form on record-in a calendar year-somewhere within the Atlantic basin, occurred on January 3, 1938. This particular tropical cyclone also holds the record for being the earliest TC to ever achieve hurricane intensity, as well. It reached hurricane intensity, as well as achieving it's maximum intensity of 80 mph, during a 12 hour period on January 4th.
5) The most intense hurricane to develop during the first four months of a calendar year was storm One of 1908. It was during the early afternoon hours of March 6, 1908 that this historic system achieved hurricane intensity. This unusual hurricane continued to intensify and would subsequently barrel through the middle of the Leeward Island chain of the Eastern Carribean. It moved through the area in a SSW trajectory, as a 100 mph category two hurricane, during the late night hours of March 7 and the early morning hours of March 8.
6) The Groundhog Day Storm of 1952 is the only known STS or TS to make a U.S. landfall-during the first four months of a calendar year-in the entire historical record. This historic TC struck the SW Florida Pennisula (just south of Everglades City) around 1030 pm local time on February 2, 1952. At landfall, it had a MSW of 50 mph. The Miami NWS recorded a peak wind gust of 68 mph, as the storm moved rapidly northeastward across the southern Florida peninsula, during the early morning hours of February 3.
FUTURE BLOG ENTRIES:
As the 2013 North Atlantic basin hurricane season draws nearer, I will be posting additional blog entries focused on tropical cyclone forecasting and the climatological record. I would be remiss if I didn't also mention that I will continue to provide updated blog entries (similar to this one) for all the other respective months of a calendar year, as well.
As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read and/or post in my blogs. I hope each one of you have a great rest of the day!:)
Most sincerely,
Tony
Reader Comments
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How are you? Hope you and your family are well.
An interesting read, which made me think of the storm force winds we had just over a year ago. It was called Cyclone Ulli, and formed off the coast of New Jersey at the end of December and steamed its way across the Atlantic, hitting us on the 2nd-4th January. I remember it well, as I had been away for New Year and the storm meant the route I took was closed, meaning a diversion of nearly 100 miles!
Happy New year... even if it is five weeks late!
Thank you for the very thoughtful post and for sharing your experiences with Cyclone Ulli.
I have been doing fairly well, and hope the same applies to you.
As time permits, I will try to post more frequently. In the meantime, I hope you have a great rest of the week, and I will look forward to talking with you again soon!:)
Your friend,
Tony
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