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Hurricane Paula was a small hurricane that struck Honduras and Cuba in October 2010. The eighteenth tropical cyclone, sixteenth named storm, and ninth hurricane of the season, Paula developed from a low pressure area over the southwestern Caribbean Sea on October 11. Moving northwestward, it slowly organized and was upgraded to a tropical storm shortly thereafter. Around midday on October 11, Paula made landfall near Cabo Gracias a Dios at the border of Honduras and Nicaragua. In northeastern Honduras, strong winds destroyed several homes, while rainfall destroyed a few roads and dozens of buildings, include a school and a police station. Favorable conditions such as low wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures allowed Paula to reach hurricane status early on October 12. Further intensification occurred, and the storm peaked with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) while curving northward on October 13. Due to Paula's small size, impact in Mexico was minor, mainly limited to light rainfall and winds. However, an American tourist drowned offshore Cozumel. After Paula attained its peak intensity on October 13, wind shear began to increase, causing the storm to weaken. The storm turned north-northeastward and fell to tropical storm intensity on October 14. Shortly thereafter, Paula made landfall in the Cuban province of Pinar del Río. Early on October 15, Paula weakened to a tropical depression while moving eastward over Cuba, before degenerating into a remnant low pressure area about six hours later. In Cuba, rainfall was mostly beneficial. Strong winds, with gusts reaching 68 mph (109 km/h), left power outages in Pinar del Río and Artemisa provinces. In the Havana area, a few homes were deroofed, while falling trees blocked many roads. Impact in the Florida Keys was minimal, limited to light rainfall and increased tides. ==Meteorological history== Tropical Storm Nicole exited the Caribbean Sea and dissipated on September 29, leaving behind a broad area of cyclonic circulation at the lower levels of the atmosphere. A southeasterly-moving cold front drifted from the Gulf of Mexico on October 5, and developed into a stationary north-south trough axis the following day. When a tropical wave that was associated with the previous development of Hurricane Otto traced into the Caribbean on October 7, there was an escalation in the convection associated with the system. Another tropical wave traveled from the Lesser Antilles to the western Caribbean between October 9 and 10. A large low-pressure area formed as the wave interacted with the trough; however, convection decreased on October 10. After convection increased again, the eighteenth tropical depression of the season developed at 0000 UTC on October 11, while situated about southeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios, which is on the Honduras-Nicaragua border. About six hours later, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Paula. Steered northwestward around the southwestern periphery of a subtropical ridge, the storm made landfall near Cabo Gracias a Dios with winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) at 1200 UTC. Shortly thereafter, the storm began to significantly intensify, due to sea surface temperatures of ,〔 as well as light to moderate wind shear. Operationally, the National Hurricane Center did not initiate advisories until late on October 11, after satellite imagery, surface observations, and reconnaissance aircraft flight data confirmed the existence of a tropical cyclone; by this time, Paula was already a strong tropical storm. At 0000 UTC on October 12, Paula strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale.〔 Satellite imagery during the afternoon of October 12 indicated that Paul was a small hurricane, consisting of a round area of deep convection, with an eye feature developing. However, at 1800 UTC on October 12, the storm strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane while curving northward. Simultaneously, Paula attained its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of . After peak intensity late on October 12, strong upper-level west-southwesterly winds interacted with the system. Hurricane-force winds extended only from the center of Paula, while tropical storm-force winds extended from the same point. Paula moved north-northwest as the storm was impacted by a middle-latitude trough over the Gulf of Mexico. 〔 Increasing wind shear caused Paula to weaken to a Category 1 hurricane late on October 13.〔 Satellite imagery and reconnaissance aircraft flights indicated that cloud pattern was disrupted and the mid- and low-level centers were becoming detached. Shortly thereafter, the National Hurricane Center remarked about the size of Paula, stating that, "a hurricane is crossing between the western tip of Cuba and eastern Yucatan...but without modern technology no one would know it was there". Drifting north-northeastward ahead of a mid-latitude trough, Paula weakened to a tropical storm at 1200 UTC on October 14. Three hours later, the storm made landfall between Santa Lucía and Puerto Esperanza, in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba, with winds of 65 mph (105 km/h). By 0600 UTC on October 15, Paula weakened to a tropical depression, while moving eastward over Cuba. Six hours later, the storm degenerated into a remnant low pressure area, before completely dissipating early on October 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 Paula (2010)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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