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Hurricane Marco caused significant flooding in the Greater Antilles and Central America, despite remaining well offshore. The thirteenth tropical cyclone, thirteenth named storm, and ninth hurricane of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season, Marco developed in the western Caribbean Sea on November 16 after the interaction of a cold front and several tropical waves. Initially a tropical depression, it remained weak as it tracked southwestward and eventually southward. By November 19, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Marco, shortly before slowly curving in a general eastward direction. Marco briefly became a hurricane on November 20, though upper-level winds caused it to weaken back to a tropical storm later that day. The storm then tracked northeastward toward Hispaniola, but later become nearly stationary and curve eastward, then doubled-back to the west. After weakening to a tropical depression on November 23, Marco re-strengthened to a tropical storm on the following day. Marco tracked northwestward while fluctuating in intensity before finally weakening and dissipating on November 26. Despite not making landfall, Marco produced heavy rainfall in Cuba, Hispaniola, Central America, and Jamaica, which caused significant flooding in some areas. In Honduras, 4,000 homes were destroyed, 40 bridges washed away, nearly 50,000 acres of banana and fruit plantations flooded, and nine deaths were reported. Flooding also effected other Central American countries, albeit effects were less severe. Heavy rainfall was reported in Cuba, although flood damage is unknown. Marco contributed to an ongoing flood in Jamaica and caused three additional fatalities in the Dominican Republic. Overall, Marco caused 15 fatalities and approximately $8.2 million (1996 USD) in damage. ==Meteorological history== On November 9, a cold front moved into the northwest Caribbean Sea, shortly before an abnormally strong high pressure system entered in the area. The front then became nearly stationary and interacted with several tropical waves over the next week. The Intertropical Convergence Zone became active, causing monsoonal southwesterly flow to enter the system from the eastern Pacific Ocean. On November 13, surface weather analysis indicated a weak low pressure area had developed north of Colombia. Despite a well-defined low-level circulation, the system did not meet the criteria for a tropical cyclone because convective activity was not organized or concentrated within the vicinity of the center. Several small, weak centers of low pressure formed in the general area, and the entire system drifted northward for a couple days. In combination with a high pressure area over the United States, the system produced gale-force winds on Florida, Cuba, the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico.〔 Convection gradually developed over the broad low pressure area, and post-storm analysis indicated that Tropical Depression Thirteen developed at 1800 UTC on November 16, while centered about southwest of Kingston, Jamaica.〔 Operationally, the National Hurricane Center did not issue advisories until 2100 UTC on November 18. The depression tracked generally southward, soon encountering a more favorable environment for tropical cyclone development. Although environmental conditions were favorable for intensification, the depression initially failed to strengthen further. However, the depression later developed significant amounts of deep convection and intensified into Tropical Storm Marco on November 19. After intensifying into a tropical storm, Marco then headed slowly east-northeastward and continued to strengthen. By early on November 20, Marco was upgraded to a hurricane. Simultaneously, Marco attained its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of .〔 However, shortly thereafter, Marco began to move into a less favorable environment with strong upper-level westerly winds. As a result, it weakened back to a tropical storm later on November 20, after being a hurricane for only twelve hours. Despite the lesser favorable environment, Marco began to re-strengthen starting on the following day. By November 22, it nearly re-gained hurricane status, with winds remaining at 70 mph (110 km/h). However, Marco subsequently weakened to a tropical depression at 1800 UTC on November 23 while south of Jamaica. A mid-level ridge rebuilt over the Bahamas and Florida, which forced Marco westward, and then northwestward. The cyclone re-organized and thus re-intensified into a tropical storm on November 24. Tropical Storm Marco reached a third peak intensity with winds at 60 mph (100 km/h) on November 25 at 1200 UTC, before it weakened again. The storm maintained tropical storm status until 1200 UTC on November 26, when it weakened to a tropical depression once again. Marco then interacted with a cold front, causing it to degenerate into a remnant low pressure system at 1800 UTC on November 26. Three hours later, the National Hurricane Center issued its final advisory on Marco, stating that the storm was merely a low-level swirl devoid of deep convection. After dissipating, the remnants of Marco drifted southward and produced heavy rainfall over Belize and Honduras.〔 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 Marco (1996)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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