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Hurricane Frederic was an intense and damaging tropical cyclone that carved a path of damage from the Lesser Antilles to Quebec, in particular devastating areas of the United States Gulf Coast. Though only five were killed directly, the US$2.3 billion in damage accrued by Frederic made it the Atlantic basin's costliest tropical cyclone on record at the time. Prior to its final landfall, the threat that Frederic imposed on areas of the U.S. Gulf Coast triggered a mass exodus from the region larger than any other evacuation in the past. While the storm primarily impacted the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama, lesser effects were felt throughout the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as inland North America. Frederic developed from a tropical depression south of the Cape Verde Islands on August 28, 1979. Tracking at a steady clip westward, the primitive cyclone reached tropical storm intensity the next day. Favorable conditions in the open Atlantic allowed for Frederic to reach hurricane intensity on September 1. However, outflow form nearby Hurricane David began to inhibit further intensification and would continue to do so for roughly a week, weakening Frederic as it tracked across the Greater Antilles. The tropical cyclone nearly dissipated over Cuba before redeveloping on September 9 near the Isle of Youth. From then on, Frederic moved northwestward, intensifying to its peak intensity in the Gulf of Mexico with winds of 135 mph (215 km/h) on September 12, shortly before making landfall on the border between Alabama and Mississippi. Over the United States, Frederic weakened for a final time before becoming extratropical in Pennsylvania on September 14 and dissipating the next day. Damage estimates vary from $6–9 billion (2008 USD), with variations due to inadequate reporting of private insurance claims as well as lack of hard data on uninsured damage. FEMA, which had been established only three months before Frederic hit, was the focal point for nearly $250 million in federal aid for recovery, $188 million of which went to Alabama (1979 USD). ==Meteorological history== The precursor to Hurricane Frederic emerged as a loosely-defined tropical wave off the west coast of Africa late on August 27. The following day, satellite images indicated that the tropical wave had become more defined, and was beginning to show signs of cyclonic rotation. At 0600 UTC on August 29, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) classified the system as a tropical depression based on observational data from ships nearby in conjunction with satellite images. Upon developing into a tropical cyclone, the depression moved at an unusually rapid pace westward, gradually curving towards the west-northwest and slowly intensifying in ideal conditions. At 1200 UTC on August 30, the tropical depression was upgraded to tropical storm status and thus named ''Frederic''.〔 Intensification continued after the storm's upgrade, and early on September 1, Frederic developed an eye, prompting the NHC to further upgrade the tropical cyclone to hurricane status at 0600 UTC that day.〔 Frederic only maintained hurricane intensity for roughly eighteen hours over the open waters of the Atlantic on September 1 before outflow from nearby Hurricane David began to adversely affect the tropical cyclone.〔 At 0000 UTC on September 2, Frederic weakened back to tropical storm strength while it was still well east of the Lesser Antilles. This weakening phase continued as Frederic began to assume a more westerly track and slow in forward motion.〔 On September 4, Frederic tracked over the Virgin Islands before making landfall on Puerto Rico later that day with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (80 km/h). Frederic's interaction with Puerto Rico greatly disrupted the low-level circulation contained within the tropical cyclone, enhancing the weakening effects of Hurricane David's outflow. After passing over the island, the tropical storm briefly took a southwest course before curving into Hispaniola on September 6, inducing additional disruption within Frederic. At 1800 UTC that day, Frederic was downgraded to tropical depression status north of Haiti.〔 Frederic remained a tropical depression for two days as it tracked into and then parallel to the southern coast of Cuba beginning on September 7. During this time, Hurricane David had tracked far into the Northeastern United States, and as a result its inhibiting effects of intensification ceased.〔 At 0000 UTC on September 9, Frederic regained tropical storm intensity while located roughly 100 mi (160 km/h) east of the Isle of Youth. The following day, the cyclone tracked over western Cuba as it gradually curved towards the northwest. Favorable conditions, marked by very warm sea surface temperatures as high as 86ºF (30ºC) and the presence of a large anticyclone over the system, allowed Frederic to strengthen to hurricane status for a second time while just northwest of Cuba, despite proximity to land.〔 Frederic took a northwesterly course throughout its trek across the Gulf of Mexico in early September, intensifying in a highly conducive environment.〔 By 1800 UTC on September 10, the hurricane became stronger than it had ever been over the central Atlantic. At 0000 UTC on September 12, Frederic attained major hurricane status over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and twelve hours later reached peak intensity with a minimum barometric pressure of 943 mbar (hPa; 27.85 inHg) and sustained winds of 135 mph (215 km/h), making the cyclone a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Moving gradually faster in the Gulf of Mexico,〔 Frederic eventually made two landfalls – one on Dauphin Island and the other near the border between Alabama and Mississippi – with a virtually unchanged intensity. Tracking rapidly northward, Frederic began to weaken due to land interaction, and was downgraded to tropical storm status while it was near Meridian, Mississippi on September 13.〔 At around the same time, the cyclone began to curve northeastward, eventually merging with an extratropical cyclone in southwestern Pennsylvania by 1800 UTC on September 14. These extratropical remnants proceeded to track through the Mid-Atlantic states and New England before they were last officially documented by the NHC in New Brunswick on September 15.〔 However, the Canadian Hurricane Centre still considered the cyclone active up until the storm entered the Labrador Sea on September 16. 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 Frederic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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