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Hurricane Odile is tied for the most intense landfalling tropical cyclone on the Baja California Peninsula during the satellite era. Sweeping across the peninsula in September 2014, Odile inflicted widespread damage, particularly in the state of Baja California Sur, in addition to causing lesser impacts on the Mexican mainland and Southwestern United States. The precursor to Odile developed into a tropical depression south of Mexico on September 10 and quickly reached tropical storm strength. After meandering for several days, Odile began to track northwestward, intensifying to hurricane status before rapidly reaching its Category 4 hurricane peak intensity on September 14. The cyclone slightly weakened before making landfall near Cabo San Lucas with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h). Odile gradually weakened as it tracked across the length of the Baja California Peninsula, briefly tracking into the Gulf of California before degenerating into a remnant system on September 17. These remnants tracked northeastward across the Southwestern United States before they were no longer identifiable on September 19. Odile was initially forecast to curve out to sea, avoiding land as it tracked westward. As a result, initially only minor weather alerts were posted by the local governments of southwestern Mexico. However, precautionary measures on the Baja California Peninsula began in earnest after Odile unexpectedly took a direct course towards the peninsula. A state of emergency was declared for several municipalities and 164 shelters were opened with a total capacity of 30,000 people. Due to the unanticipated threat of Odile, approximately 26,000 foreign tourists were stranded on the peninsula at the time of landfall. The combination of heavy rainfall and storm surge associated with Odile's initial development off the southern coast of Mexico led to minor coastal damage across southwestern Mexico and three deaths in Oaxaca and Jalisco. The bulk of impacts associated with the hurricane occurred on the Baja California Peninsula, where damages amounted to approximately MXN$16.6 billion (US$1.22 billion). Power outages spurred by Odile's intense winds and rain cut electricity to 92% of the population of Baja California Sur. Severe flooding also occurred, causing rivers to swell and the mass evacuation of people out of hazardous low-lying areas. The remnants of Odile brought rains and unseasonably powerful thunderstorms to the southwestern United States. In total, Odile led to the deaths of 15 people throughout its nine-day existence. ==Meteorological history== Hurricane Odile originated from a tropical wave that exited the African Coast on August 28. Shower activity along the wave axis remained poorly organized until it crossed Central America on September 3.〔 On the next day, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) indicated the possibility for this wave to develop into a low-pressure area south of Mexico and later a tropical cyclone. By September 7, a large area of thunderstorms developed in association with a trough of low-pressure consistent with prior forecasts developed over the region. The broad system slowly progressed westward and gradually organized over the next few days; at 00:00 UTC on September 9, a surface low developed roughly south-southeast of Acapulco. This low became better defined over the next 24 hours as it tracked northwestward; the NHC determined that the disturbance had become sufficiently organized to be classified as a tropical depression at 00:00 UTC on September 10.〔 A continued increase in storms and organization prompted the NHC to upgrade the system to tropical storm status six hours after formation, designating the system with the name ''Odile''. Despite these developments, wind shear caused the storm's center of circulation to remain displaced to the north from the bulk of convection. As a result, further intensification was slowed. Due to the lack of atmospheric steering currents at the time, Odile assumed a slow, meandering course towards the west.〔 Continued wind shear caused the tropical storm to become disorganized on September 11 before abating,〔 allowing for thunderstorms to rebuild over Odile's circulation center on September 12. The relaxed wind shear enabled the growth of intense rainbands encircling the tropical cyclone as well as improved outflow aloft. The following day, Odile quickly attained a large central dense overcast; in accordance with Dvorak-derived satellite intensity estimates, the NHC upgraded the storm to hurricane intensity. Upon being classified as a hurricane on September 13, Odile began to accelerate towards the north-northwest in the direction of the Baja California Peninsula under the influence of both a strengthening mid-level ridge over the Gulf of Mexico and an upper-level low to the northwest.〔 Following the formation of an eye, Odile began a phase of rapid intensification; Odile attained Category 2 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale at 00:00 UTC on September 14. Six hours later, the cyclone had reached Category 4 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 918 mbar (hPa; 27.11 inHg).〔 This pressure reading is tied for the sixth-lowest on record for an east Pacific hurricane, along with Marie earlier that year. Even though additional intensification was forecast, intensification leveled off thereafter as an eyewall replacement cycle, common in intense hurricanes, began to run its course, which helped the storm rapidly grow in size. Despite these indications, an United States Air Force aircraft reconnaissance flight observed a barometric pressure of 922 mbar (hPa; 27.23 inHg); this measurement was the lowest pressure reading officially measured throughout Odile's existence. Nonetheless, the eroding of the hurricane's inner core due to the eyewall replacement cycle resulted in gradual weakening after peak intensity. Still maintaining its north-northwesterly course with little deviation,〔 Odile made landfall near Cabo San Lucas as a strong Category 3 hurricane at 04:45 UTC on September 15 with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) with a central pressure of 941 mbar (hPa; 27.79 inHg).〔 The wind estimates tie Odile with Hurricane Olivia in 1967 as the strongest tropical cyclone to move ashore Baja California Sur in the satellite era. Despite the presence of land, only gradual weakening occurred initially after Odile made landfall. However, a combination of increasingly southwesterly wind shear and the Baja California Peninsula's mountainous terrain began to take its toll on the hurricane,〔 weakening it down to a tropical storm by September 16. Although the storm's convection was thinning out,〔 Odile retained a well-organized satellite appearance and occasional bursts of thunderstorm activity. On September 17, a nearby mid-level ridge steered the system slowly northeastward, moving Odile into the Gulf of California as a moderate tropical storm. Despite the very warm waters, the emergence of wind shear and land interaction offset otherwise favorable conditions. Odile continued to weaken as its convection sped northeastwards into Mexico and the southwestern United States. After turning northward and then northeastward in response to a mid-latitude trough, Odile moved inland over the northern part of the Mexican state of Sonora about near Alvaro Obregón as a marginal tropical storm. By doing so, Odile became the first tropical storm to make landfall north of 30°N in Mexico since Hurricane Nora of 1997.〔 At 21:00 UTC on September 17, the NHC determined that the tropical storm had degenerated into a remnant area of low-pressure inland over northwestern mainland Mexico. The remnant circulation of Odile continued to track northeastward, entering extreme southeastern Arizona by 09:00 UTC on September 18. This circulation dissipated by September 19, just east of the border between Arizona and New Mexico, leaving behind a marked mass of thunderstorms which persisted across the region for the next several days. 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 Odile」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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