Record Atlantic hurricane season
The
hurricanes
Early
indications of a very active Atlantic hurricane season
proved accurate. The season’s storms caused a vast amount
of damage, death and destruction. Damage estimates have
already been put at more than US$ 100 billion (mostly from
Hurricane Katrina)
and over 2 800 deaths (mostly from Katrina and Stan).
Thanks
to accurate hurricane forecasts provided by WMO RSMC
Miami-Hurricane Center and the national warning centres in
the region, many lives were saved.
The
season saw 26 tropical storms, making it the most active
season on record.
Thirteen
became hurricanes—the most to form in a single season. Of
these, seven were major hurricanes, one short of the 1950
record. Fifteen systems made landfall—another record. It
is the first hurricane season, Atlantic or Pacific, to
exhaust the list of names and resort to Greek letters for
naming.
Wilma was the most powerful hurricane, in terms of both wind speed
and air pressure, ever measured in the Atlantic basin. Wilma also broke records for fastest development, going from
tropical storm status to Category 5 hurricane in less than
24 hours.
Late-season
Tropical Storm Gamma became almost stationary when it reached Honduras. It brought
heavy rain, causing disastrous landslides and flooding.
New
list of hurricane names?
In
the North and Central America and Caribbean regions,
hurricane names are chosen by representatives of WMO’s
Hurricane Committee, composed of 26 Member countries. Names
are retired and replaced when a storm causes large loss of
life or property.
For
the first time since Atlantic hurricanes were given names in
1953, all 21 names were used up in 2005. The Greek alphabet
had long been the designated backup list but had never
before been used.
When
the Committee next meets, in March 2006, it will decide
which names to retire and their replacements and will agree
on a new back-up list.
The power
of a hurricane: Katrina (Photo: NOAA)
See: http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/tcp/index_en.html (then Storm Names (2005-2010) and http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml
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