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The 1997 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1997, and lasted until November 30, 1997. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin.
The 1997 season was inactive, with only seven named storms (eight total) forming. It was the first time since the 1961 season that there were no active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin during the entire month of August. A strong El Niño is credited with reducing the number of storms in the Atlantic, while increasing the number of storms in the 1997 Pacific hurricane season and 1997 Pacific typhoon season with 19 and 29 storms, respectively. As is common in El Niño years, tropical cyclogenesis was suppressed in the tropical latitudes, with only two becoming tropical storms south of 25°N.
Hurricane Danny killed four people, and caused an estimated $100 million in damage when it made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Hurricane Erika, the strongest storm of the season, passed within 85 miles (137 km) of the Lesser Antilles, far enough away to prevent hurricane conditions from reaching land. No land effects were felt by One, Ana, Bill, Claudette, Tropical Depression Five, Fabian and Grace.
[edit] Storms
[edit] Subtropical Storm One
A cluster of thunderstorms developed over Florida in late May. A shortwave trough brought it to the northeast, enhancing convection around a developing center of circulation. The low pressure area, which formed on May 31, developed into a subtropical depression on June 1. It reached subtropical storm strength 6 hours later as it moved rapidly parallel to the East Coast of the United States. The convection continued to wrap around the center, and despite unfavorable conditions from an approaching cold front, it reached a peak of 50 mph (80 km/h) late on June 1 while off the coast of North Carolina.[1]
The storm turned to the east, and became extratropical late on June 2 while southeast of Massachusetts as it was merged by a cold front. Operationally, it was treated as a frontal low, but post-analysis suggested it remained separate throughout its lifetime, and was classified as an unnamed subtropical storm.[1]
[edit] Tropical Storm Ana
A frontal low pressure system off the coast of South Carolina developed into Tropical Depression One on June 30. It moved slowly eastward, and attained tropical storm status on July 1. After peaking at 45 mph (72 km/h), a shortwave trough brought Ana to the northeast, where vertical shear caused the storm to lose what little convection it had. Ana weakened to a tropical depression on the 3rd, and became extratropical on the 4th over the western Atlantic Ocean. There were no damages reported and Ana never affected land.
[edit] Hurricane Bill
In early July, a large upper-level low developed from the mid-oceanic trough northeast of Puerto Rico. Convection increased over a low level trough, and as the upper level moved southwestward, upper level shear weakened greatly. This allowed for a center organize within the convection, and was classified a tropical depression near the Bahamas on July 11. Though it had a high pressure of 1013mb, the system was in an area of higher pressures, and it reached tropical storm strength later on the 11th under favorable conditions. Embedded within the westerlies, Bill moved quickly to the northeast and reached hurricane status on the 12th over progressively cooler waters, defying forecasts of its demise. The cool waters weakened Bill to a tropical storm on July 13, and it was absorbed by a front later that day. A tropical storm warning was issued for Bermuda, but Bill passed the island without incident.
[edit] Tropical Storm Claudette
The frontal system that absorbed Hurricane Bill developed a non-tropical frontal low off the coast of South Carolina on July 11. It drifted eastward, and slowly acquired tropical characteristics. A low-level circulation developed, and the system became Tropical Depression Three on the 13th while 315 miles (507 km) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Convection continued to organize around the center, and the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Claudette later on the 13th. After reaching a peak of 45 mph (72 km/h) winds, the storm encountered southwesterly upper-level shear from an upper-level low. The storm struggled to maintain its intensity as it moved to the northeast. Easterly flow from an approaching frontal boundary turned Claudette to the east, where it weakened into a tropical depression on the 16th. The storm briefly re-strengthened into a tropical storm, but merged with the cold front later on the 16th. As a frontal low, the extratropical storm persisted until dissipating near the Azores islands on July 23. [1]
The storm caused severe rip currents in Connecticut, causing one serious injury. [2]
[edit] Hurricane Danny
- Main article: Hurricane Danny (1997)
A non-tropical cluster of thunderstorms organized into a tropical low over the northern Gulf of Mexico in mid July. On July 17, this low had strengthened into Tropical Storm Danny. Danny moved east-northeast, and reached hurricane strength just before landfall near Buras, Louisiana. Because of the narrowness of that piece of land, most of Danny remained over water and it lost little strength, and made landfall near Mullet Point, Alabama on July 19. After stalling for a day, Danny moved northward and weakened to a tropical depression. The depression headed north across Alabama, then turned to the east and emerged over the Atlantic Ocean near the North Carolina/Virginia border on July 24. The depression immediately restrengthened into a tropical storm. Danny took a northward turn, and came within 25 n mi of Nantucket Island on July 26. It then turned out to sea and was absorbed by a front on July 27. Hurricane Danny caused four direct deaths, and $100 million in estimated damages.
[edit] Tropical Depression Five
Tropical Depression Five formed from a tropical wave that emerged from the west coast of Africa on July 11. The wave moved westward across the tropical Atlantic, and finally began to show consistent evidence of a cloud system center. Deep convection associated with the wave became concentrated on satellite images on July 17, and it is estimated that the disturbance became Tropical Depression Five around 0600 UTC on this day while centered about 475 nautical miles (880 km) east of Barbados.
The tropical depression moved west-northwestward and started showing signs of falling apart on July 18. Early on July 19 it degenerated into tropical wave. Recon observations before the storm fell apart suggested that it may have briefly reached tropical storm strength. The tropical wave continued westward without regenerating and lost its identity on July 23 over the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
[edit] Hurricane Erika
- Main article: Hurricane Erika (1997)
Erika developed from a tropical wave on September 3. It moved west-northwestward, and steadily intensified to attain hurricane status on September 4. Erika passed a short distance to the north of the Lesser Antilles, and later turned to the north in response to an approaching trough. The hurricane quickly strengthen to reach peak winds of 125 mph (195 km/h) on September 8, and after maintaining peak strength for 24 hours Erika weakened over cooler waters. It turned to the east, weakened to a tropical storm, and became extratropical after passing near the Azores islands.[2]
The hurricane produced light rainfall and winds throughout the northern Lesser Antilles.[3] The passage of Erika brought a cloud of ash to Antigua from the eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat, a rare occurrence. Strong waves from the hurricane produced beach erosion and coastal flooding in northern Puerto Rico, and also killed two surfers.[2] Moderate wind gusts in Puerto Rico left thousands without power,[4] and the hurricane resulted in $10 million (1997 USD, $12.6 million 2006 USD) in damage in the Caribbean territory of the United States.[5] Erika also produced gusty winds and light rain in the Azores.[2] Erika was the only tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean in the months of August and September, the first such occurrence in a hurricane season since 1929.[6]
[edit] Tropical Storm Fabian
Fabian formed north of Puerto Rico on October 5. It moved northeast and became extratropical on October 8. No damage is directly associated with Fabian. Heavy rains over the Lesser Antilles could have caused some minor damage.
[edit] Tropical Storm Grace
An extratropical low formed just north of Hispaniola on October 15, and the next day gained enough tropical characteristics to be classified as a tropical storm. It moved east-northeast until it was absorbed by another system on October 17. Tropical Storm Grace caused no reported damage.
The precursor disturbance dropped heavy rainfall across Puerto Rico, peaking at 12.69 inches in Aibonito.[3]
[edit] Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) Rating
| ACE (104kt2) – Storm: Source |
| 1 |
26.64 |
Erika |
5 |
1.34 |
Fabian |
| 2 |
5.98 |
Danny |
6 |
1.33 |
Ana |
| 3 |
2.33 |
Bill |
7 |
.895 |
Grace |
| 4 |
1.57 |
Claudette |
8 |
.000 |
Subtrop |
The table on the right shows the ACE for each storm in the season. The ACE is, broadly speaking, a measure of the power of the hurricane multiplied by the length of time it existed for, so hurricanes that lasted a long time have higher ACEs (such as Erika). The 1997 season had a below average ACE of 40.085, the lowest total since 1994, which only had 31.53 in ACE.
[edit] Storm names
The following names were used for named storms that formed in the north Atlantic in 1997. No names were retired, so it was used again in the 2003 season. This is the same list used for the 1991 season except for Bill, which replaced Bob. A storm was named Bill for the first time in 1997. Names that were not assigned are marked in gray.
|
|
- Henri (unused)
- Isabel (unused)
- Juan (unused)
- Kate (unused)
- Larry (unused)
- Mindy (unused)
- Nicholas (unused)
|
- Odette (unused)
- Peter (unused)
- Rose (unused)
- Sam (unused)
- Teresa (unused)
- Victor (unused)
- Wanda (unused)
|
[edit] Retirement
- See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricane names
The World Meteorological Organization retired no names used in the 1997 season.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Tropical cyclones of the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season
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.JPG/150px-Unnamed_Subtropical_Storm_(1997).JPG)
.JPG/150px-Tropical_Storm_Ana_(1997).JPG)
.JPG/150px-Hurricane_Bill_(1997).JPG)
.JPG/150px-Tropical_Storm_Claudette_(1997).JPG)
.JPG/150px-TD_5_(1997).JPG)
.JPG/150px-Tropical_Storm_Fabian_(1997).JPG)
.JPG/150px-Tropical_Storm_Grace_(1997).JPG)
