11/23/2023 0 Comments 5 north way traffic conditions![]() All seven ocean basins where tropical cyclones can form have had a storm reach Category 5 strength so far this year, including Hurricane Jova, which reached Category 5 status in the eastern Pacific earlier this week. The Atlantic is not the only ocean to have spawned a monster storm in 2023. Lee is the 8th Category 5 since 2016, meaning 20% of these exceptionally powerful hurricanes on record in NOAA’s hurricane database have come in the last seven years. Reaching Category 5 strength has become more common over the last decade. Sea-surface temperatures across the portion of the Atlantic Ocean that Lee is tracking through are a staggering 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal after rising to “far above record levels” this summer, according to David Zierden, Florida’s state climatologist. Lee had all of these, especially warm water amid the warmest summer on record. Hurricanes need the perfect mixture of warm water, moist air and light upper-level winds to intensify enough to reach Category 5 strength. A 165-mph storm like Lee is the same category as Hurricane Allen, the Atlantic’s strongest hurricane on record, which topped out at 190 mph in 1980. Hurricanes hit this level when their sustained winds reach 157 mph or higher. ![]() ![]() Including Lee, only 40 Category 5 hurricanes have roamed the Atlantic since 1924.Ĭategory 5 is the highest level on the hurricane wind speed scale and has no maximum point. Only 2% of storms in the Atlantic reach Category 5 strength, according to NOAA’s hurricane database. Lee hit a rare strength that few storms have ever achieved. Tropical storm conditions, life-threatening surf and rip currents could occur on some of these islands over the weekend. The center of Lee will pass to the north of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend and into early next week. Southeast.ĭangerous surf and rip currents will spread across the northern Caribbean on Friday and begin affecting the mainland United States on Sunday. The monstrous hurricane struck Haiti in 2016, killing hundreds in the Caribbean nation while also wreaking havoc on parts of the U.S. The storm’s winds increased by 85 mph in a 24-hour period, which tied it with Hurricane Matthew for the third-fastest rapid intensification in the Atlantic, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research meteorologist John Kaplan. Lee, which was a Category 1 storm Thursday, intensified with exceptional speed in warm ocean waters, doubling its wind speeds in just a day. Lee is expected to remain a major hurricane over the southwestern Atlantic early next week, though it’s too soon to know whether this system will directly impact the U.S. “Although Lee’s current intensity is lower than the overnight peak, the hurricane remains very powerful,” the National Hurricane Center said, noting that more slight fluctuations in maximum winds are expected over the next several days. The hurricane is packing destructive maximum sustained winds of 155 mph and is about 550 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. Please select the website link to see each state’s road conditions.(CNN) - Hurricane Lee weakened slightly into a Category 4 storm Friday morning, following a day in which the hurricane strengthened at a historic pace into a powerful Category 5 rarely seen in the Atlantic Ocean. For the latest road conditions, here is a list of phone numbers and websites for each state.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |