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Hurricane Gordon caused minor damage in the Eastern United States. The seventh named storm and fourth hurricane of the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season, Gordon developed in the extreme western Caribbean Sea from a tropical wave on September 14. Shortly thereafter, the depression moved inland over the Yucatán Peninsula and later emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on September 15. The depression began to quickly organize, and by early on September 16, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Gordon. After becoming a tropical storm, Gordon continued to intensify and was reclassified as a hurricane about 24 hours later; eventually, the storm peaked as an 80 mph (130 km/h) Category 1 hurricane. However, southwesterly upper-level winds caused Gordon to weaken as it approached land, and it was downgraded to a tropical storm by late on September 17. At 0300 UTC on September 18, Gordon made landfall near Cedar Key, Florida as a strong tropical storm. After moving inland, Gordon rapidly weakened and had deteriorated to tropical depression status by nine hours later. Later that day, Gordon merged with a frontal boundary while centered over Georgia. Prior to becoming a tropical cyclone, the precursor tropical wave caused severe flooding in Guatemala, killing 23 people. While crossing the Yucatán Peninsula, the storm dropped heavy rainfall, with a few areas experiencing more than of precipitation. Similarly, portions of western Cuba reported rainfall totals reaching . Gordon brought moderate storm surge to the west coast of Florida; one person drowned due to rough seas. Numerous trees and power lines sustained damage, which left 120,000 people without electricity. In the Tampa Bay area and Cedar Key, minor roof damage to houses and street flooding occurred. In addition, two tornadoes caused some damage in Cape Coral and Ponce Inlet. Elsewhere, affects were minimal, though two indirect fatalities occurred in North Carolina, and minor flooding was reported in South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Overall, Gordon caused $10.8 million (2000 USD) in damage and 26 fatalities. ==Meteorological history== A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 4 and tracked westward across the Atlantic Ocean without strengthening. On September 9 and 10, the tropical wave moved though the Lesser Antilles bringing local heavy rainfall and wind gusts reaching 35 mph (55 km/h). The wave then moved west-northwest and developed a well-defined center on September 12 in the central Caribbean Sea. Satellite photos on September 13 indicated that the convective pattern in the system was disorganized. However, later that day, a broad low pressure area had developed along axis of the wave, based on surface observations about southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. Early on September 14, it was estimated from satellite imagery that the low pressure system was near tropical depression strength, even though the convection was still disorganized. The system was classified as Tropical Depression Eleven at 1200 UTC on September 14, based on reports from reconnaissance aircraft. Later that day, the developing depression moved inland over the Yucatán Peninsula. The depression moved slowly to the northwest without emerging over water, therefore, the depression did not gain intensity.〔 At this time, the predicted track for the system was highly uncertain due to different computer models forecasting different tracks. The official forecast predicted a northwestward movement into the western Gulf of Mexico, but some models predicted the low to move towards northwestern Florida, while another model predicted the low to move southwards into the Bay of Campeche. Late on September 15, the depression moved off the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico, where it showed signs of better organization. The future track was still very uncertain, though a few computer models forecasted for the depression to move northeastwards towards Florida, resulting in an eastward shift on official forecast. Early on September 16, data from Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated that the storm had strengthened to about 60 mph (95 km/h) at the surface, and the barometric pressure had fallen to . Therefore, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Gordon at 0000 UTC.〔 Upon being a tropical storm on September 16, Gordon was moving northeastward towards the Big Bend of Florida, continuing to slowly intensify.〔 The official forecast track was shifted further east, forecasting Gordon to track to the northeast. Early on September 17, a ship reported winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), indicating that Gordon had attained hurricane strength. Gordon reached a peak intensity of 80 mph (130 km/h), six hours later while located about southwest of Tampa, Florida. Later that day, Gordon began to weaken due to entrainment from the south and increasing vertical wind shear. Gordon was downgraded to a tropical storm as it neared the Florida coast. The storm made landfall just northwest of Cedar Key, Florida, at 0300 UTC on September 18 with winds of 60 mph (95 mph). After moving inland, interaction with the land and cool, dry air further weakened the storm. Gordon weakened to a tropical depression nine hours after landfall, and six hours later, it had merged with a frontal system over southeastern Georgia. The storm also transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, as it moved to the northeast. On September 21, the system merged with a large extratropical system over eastern Canada.〔 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 Gordon (2000)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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