|
Hurricane Felix caused severe beach erosion along the East Coast of the United States in August 1995. The seventh tropical cyclone, sixth named storm, and third hurricane of the 1995 Atlantic hurricane season, Felix developed from a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on August 8. Although initially a tropical depression, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Felix later that day. Further intensification was slow, with Felix reaching hurricane status on August 11. Under favorable conditions, Felix began to rapidly deepen while curving northwestward. Late on August 12, Felix peaked as a low-end Category 4 hurricane. However, it soon weakened rapidly to a Category 1 hurricane. Less than three days later, Felix passed only 75 mi (120 km) southeast of Bermuda. Although it also posed a threat to the East Coast of the United States, Felix curved northward and then east-northeastward while remaining offshore, thereby avoiding landfall. Felix briefly threatened Bermuda again, but weakened to a tropical storm and turned back to the northeast on August 20. It accelerated east-northeastward, and passed a short distance offshore of Newfoundland, where Felix transitioned into an extratropical storm on August 22. Large waves in Puerto Rico caused minor coastal flooding in Cataño. Near-hurricane force winds in Bermuda downed trees and power lines, which left 20,000 people without power. Rough surf on the island damaged a few boats and hotels. In addition, the passage of Felix postponed Bermuda's 1995 independence referendum. Large waves produced by the storm affected nearly the entire East Coast of the United States. In New York, two houses were washed away in The Hamptons, and two boats capsized in Maine. While passing southeast of Newfoundland, Felix produced moderate rainfall and large waves across the island, although damage was minimal. Overall, Felix caused nine deaths due to drowning along the coasts of Rhode Island, New Jersey, and North Carolina. The storm did approximately $2.5 million (1995 USD) in damage on Bermuda, while rough seas produced about $132,000 in losses along the United States coastline. ==Meteorological history== A tropical wave exited the west coast of Africa on August 6, and quickly showed signs of a developing circulation. After an increase in convection, or thunderstorms, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) classified the system as Tropical Depression Seven at 0000 UTC on August 8, about west-southwest of the Cape Verde islands. With a strong ridge to the north, the nascent depression moved generally west-northwestward, and the combination of favorable upper-level conditions and warm sea surface temperatures allowed for gradual intensification. About 18 hours after the depression formed, the NHC upgraded it to Tropical Storm Felix.〔 By August 9, the storm had developed a large area of convection with associated outflow. After continuing to slowly intensify, Felix became a hurricane early on August 11 about east of the Lesser Antilles.〔 Soon after becoming a hurricane, Felix developed a well-defined eye as Hurricane Hunters began investigating the storm. Beginning at 1200 UTC on August 11, the hurricane began undergoing rapid deepening,〔 and by the next day, concentric eyewalls were observed, indicative of a strong storm. On August 12, the Hurricane Hunters observed flight-level winds of , suggesting peak surface winds of 140 mph (220 km/h). At that time, Felix was located north of the Lesser Antilles, moving to the north-northwest due to an approaching trough weakening the ridge. After peak winds, Felix weakened due to stronger wind shear and its eyewall replacement cycle.〔 The eye became indistinct and opened on August 13, and it became a minimal hurricane by August 14 with a broad inner core. Late on August 14, Hurricane Felix turned more to the west-northwest, after the trough that previously brought it northward split into two pieces of energy, one moving southward and the other moving northeastward. On August 15, the hurricane passed about 75 mi (120 km) south of Bermuda, and a building ridge was anticipated to allow Felix to continue its trajectory toward North Carolina.〔 Beginning on August 15, the NHC began forecasting that the hurricane would make landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina within two days. Early on August 16, the eye became better defined, although the feature diminished within a few hours, and the NHC was on the verge of downgrading Felix to tropical storm status. A break in the ridge allowed Felix to turn to the north, bringing it about 150 mi (250 km) east of the Outer Banks. An approaching trough turned the hurricane to a northeast drift,〔 and there was initial uncertainty whether Felix would loop back to the west or recurve to the northeast. During this time, the system remained a minimal hurricane, maintaining a large eye about 60 to 80 mph (95 to 130 km) in diameter, but with weak convection due to cooler air. After the trough that turned Felix to the east-northeast bypassed it to the north, the hurricane turned to the southeast, executing a small loop while northwest of Bermuda. On August 20, Felix weakened below hurricane intensity for the first time in nine days, due to cooler waters and increased wind shear.〔 By that time, the convection was removed from the center, and another trough brought the storm to the northeast. While passing east of Newfoundland on August 22, Felix became extratropical. The remnants continued to the northeast, eventually passing north of the United Kingdom on August 25.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hurricane Felix (1995)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|