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Hurricane Noel was the fourteenth named storm and sixth hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. Noel formed on October 27 from the interaction between a tropical wave and an upper-level low in the north-central Caribbean. It strengthened to winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) before making landfall on western Haiti and the north coast of eastern Cuba. It turned northward, and on November 1 it attained hurricane status. The hurricane accelerated northeastward after crossing the Bahamas, and on November 2 it became an extratropical cyclone. (The Canadian Hurricane Centre classified Noel as a post-tropical storm until 2200 UTC November 4 when it determined that it had lost all tropical characteristics.) The storm caused at least 163 direct deaths along its path, primarily in Hispaniola, due to flooding and mudslides. It was the deadliest North Atlantic hurricane of the 2007 season. After its transition to post-tropical, Noel became a very strong low pressure system causing flooding and wind damage over Maine and Eastern Canada. It even dropped snow over some areas of Eastern Quebec and Labrador. ==Meteorological history== A tropical wave exited the coast of Africa on October 16. It tracked westward, initially without organization, and by October 22 was interacting with a trough while approaching the Lesser Antilles. This caused a low pressure area to develop on October 23 about 175 mi (280 km) east-northeast of the northern Lesser Antilles. The system continued westward with disorganized convection, and was unable to develop further due to strong wind shear.〔 Despite the shear, convection increased as barometric pressures dropped in association with the organizing system. Turning west-southwestward, the low passed over the United States Virgin Islands on October 25 and just southeast of Puerto Rico the next day. Decreasing wind shear on October 27 allowed the thunderstorms to increase over the center late on October 27. After further organization, the system developed into Tropical Depression Sixteen at 0000 UTC on October 28, about 215 mi (345 km) south-southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.〔 Initially, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast the depression to track west-northwestward, brushing southwestern Haiti before moving ashore along south-central Cuba. Upon becoming a tropical cyclone, the wave was moving to the west-northwest under the steering currents of a high pressure area over the western Atlantic Ocean.〔 Six hours after formation, the center became difficult to locate, though subsequently the depression became much better organized; a large area of convection developed over the center, with several rainbands to its south. Based on reports from Hurricane Hunters, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Noel at 1815 UTC on October 28 while located about 150 miles (235 km) south-southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. After the center re-developed beneath the thunderstorms, the storm quickly strengthened to winds of 60 mph (95 km/h), and for several hours the cyclone was drifting to the south of Hispaniola. Noel began to lose organization as a nearby upper-level low increased wind shear, with the circulation becoming ill-defined as it further interacted with the mountainous terrain of Haiti. The storm crossed western Haiti as a disorganized tropical storm on October 29, and subsequently began moving parallel to the northeastern coast of Cuba while moving around the southwestern periphery of a weakening ridge. On October 30, Tropical Storm Noel made landfall near Gibara, Cuba, with winds of about 60 mph (95 km/h). The center of Noel remained well-organized as it tracked through eastern Cuba, though its sustained winds quickly diminished to minimal tropical storm force. Early on October 31 it began drifting to the north-northwest, in response to the approach of a short-wave trough from the west and the eastward shift of the mid-level ridge. A large area of strong convective rainbands persisted to its east, though due to increased upper-level wind shear there was little convection near the center. Shortly after 1200 UTC on October 31, Noel emerged off the north coast of Cuba, and subsequently the cyclone became better organized as the circulation became better associated with the convection. While located just off the north coast of Cuba, the motion of Noel was nearly stationary, though forecasters indicated it could have executed a small cyclonic loop. On October 31, the Canadian Hurricane Centre began tracking the storm. Convection increased early on November 1, though initially the center remained to the southwest of the large area of thunderstorms. At 1800 UTC that day, the storm passed over the Bahamian island of New Providence near the city of Nassau. Later that day the center tracked beneath the convection, and Noel accelerated northeastward in the southwesterly flow ahead of an approaching trough; as it did so, the center became elongated and distorted. The cyclone maintained a large, round area of deep convection with well-defined outflow, and an eye feature became evident on satellite imagery. Based on reports from Hurricane Hunters, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Noel to hurricane status early on November 2 about 180 miles (285 km) north-northeast of Nassau, Bahamas. Its convection began to wane as it moved through progressively cooler waters, and as it lost tropical characteristics its wind field expanded. By late on November 2, the inner core had substantially diminished, and the thermodynamical structure of the cyclone had become asymmetrical and frontal; as it began transitioning into an extratropical cyclone, the National Hurricane Center issued the final advisory on Hurricane Noel. Early on November 3, the extratropical cyclone attained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h), and it gradually turned to the north-northeast. As the center of Noel approached Nova Scotia, its large circulation produced strong winds across all of Atlantic Canada and New England,〔 〕 and on November 4 it tracked across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.〔 〕 At 6 PM AST (2200 UTC) November 4, as the storm was over Labrador, the Canadian Hurricane Center declared that Noel has lost all tropical characteristics and changed its designation from post-tropical to extratropical. 〔 〕 The extratropical low continued to the northeast and made landfall over southwest Greenland on the afternoon of November 5, bringing tropical storm force winds to the area. The center dissipated over Greenland later that night. While its lowest barometric pressure as a tropical system was 980 mb, on November 4, while located near Labrador, it registered a minimum pressure of 966 mb.〔 〕 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 Noel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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