Another sign that summer is here, hurricane season. June first kicks off the season which runs through November 30th. You’re probably wondering, ‘why should I care about hurricane season? I live in Michiana.’. True, Michiana will never get the direct landfall of one of these storms or deal with the damaging winds. But they do impact us in other ways and should at least be aware of what’s going on.
A perfect example would be September 2008. From Sept. 12-14 nearly 11 inches of rain fell at the South Bend airport. That was a record amount for three days. In fact, those three days helped make Sept. 2008 the wettest September and month ever on record. Pretty impressive. All of that rain led to flooding issues across much of Michiana. You may remember that a dam in Niles was on the verge of collapse because of all the rain.
So what caused so much rain? The remnants of two tropical systems. Tropical Storm Lowell out of the Pacific Ocean kicked things off before the remnants of Hurricane Ike moved in close behind. Both systems hit a stationary front which helped steer the remnants on a direct path to Michiana. That’s why we should, at least, be aware of hurricane season.
Hurricane Ike-Sept. 2008
That brings me to this year’s season. Researchers out of Colorado State University are predicting 14 named storms this year with seven reaching hurricane strength. They also believe three of those hurricanes will become “intense” reaching category three or stronger. That would be with winds of 111 mph or stronger. The researchers say their prediction means an “above average”season as far as activity is concerned.
By the way, we’ve already had a tropical system develop this year. Topical Depression One formed on May 28th and moved quickly out to sea.
Before I end this, I want to give a few pieces of information when it comes to tropical systems. Odds are, most of you know this, but it never hurts to mention it. A storm becomes a tropical depression when sustained winds are less than 39 mph. When the winds hit 40 mph, the storm is upgraded to a tropical storm and given a name. It becomes a hurricane when sustained winds hit 74 mph.
Only time will tell what this season will bring.
As always, feel free to send along comments and send your interesting or fun weather pictures to my email at kgarcia@fox28.com. I plan to post some on this blog.
| 2009 Names |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ana Bill Claudette Danny Erika Fred Grace Henri Ida Joaquin Kate Larry Mindy Nicholas Odette Peter Rose Sam Teresa Victor Wanda |
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This post was written by Ken on May 31, 2009
Is there such thing as a “tropical recession”?
Who decides on the name of hurricane?
How are the names picked?
Hi Trudy!
Thanks for your question.
When it comes to the Atlantic Hurricane names, the lists are determined by the World Meteorological Organization. The WMO is an international group under the wing of the United Nations. Before the WMO took over, the lists were maintained by the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
When the lists were first created, only female names were used. Of course today the names alternate between male and female. There are a total of six lists. The 2009 list will be used again in 2015. If a storm is deadly or costly, the name is taken off the list and replaced. When all names on the list are used, then the Greek Alphabet is used (Alpha, Beta, Gamma…etc.).
As for why certain names are selected, it’s surprisingly political. Names are nominated and voted on.