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Hurricane Richard was a damaging hurricane that affected areas of Central America in October 2010. It developed on October 20 from an area of low pressure that had stalled in the Caribbean Sea. The system moved to the southeast before turning to the west. The storm slowly organized, and the system intensified into a tropical storm. Initially, Richard only intensified slowly in an area of week steering currents. However, by October 23, wind shear diminished, and the storm intensified faster as it headed toward Belize. The next day, Richard intensified into hurricane status, and further into its peak intensity as a Category 2 hurricane, reaching maximum winds of 100 mph (150 km/h). The hurricane made its only landfall on Belize at peak intensity. Over land, Richard quickly weakened, and later degenerated into a remnant low on October 25. Hurricane Richard caused an estimated $80 million (2010 USD) in damages in its path, much of which was in Belize. In Honduras, damage was mostly limited to power outages and landslides. In Belize, most of the damage was attributed to damage to crops. Power outages were also widespread across the country. Two fatalities occurred in Belize, one direct and the other indirect. One person drowned after his ship capsized during the storm and another was mauled to death by a jaguar that had escaped its cage. ==Meteorological history== The origins of Hurricane Richard can be traced back to a tropical wave that moved off the African coast on October 4 and moved westward, stalling over Venezuela on October 13. Over the next 3 days, it drifted into the extreme southwestern Caribbean Sea, and soon developed an area of low pressure, until it stalled just north of Panama. On October 16, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began to monitor that area of disturbed weather in association with a weak trough of low pressure over the southwestern Caribbean Sea, which persisted across the region as Hurricane Paula dissipated over Cuba on the same day. By October 17, the easterly and northerly trade winds flowed into the low, producing a disorganized area of convection, or thunderstorms across the region. For several days the system moved generally west-northwestward toward Central America. Convection increased over the low on October 18, and the National Hurricane Center noted the possibility of further organization due to favorable environmental conditions. Later that day, it passed near the eastern coast of Nicaragua. The storm became more organized as it turned to a north-northwest drift in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. The Hurricane Hunters investigated the system on October 19 and indicated the development of a low-level circulation. As such, the NHC noted that the storm was very close to tropical depression strength. The next day, after the system turned to the east, strong upper-level wind shear impeded its further development, but such conditions were expected to abate. Early on October 21, the convection had organized and increased near the center of circulation despite still being in an area of moderate wind shear. Due to the organization, the NHC classified it as Tropical Depression Nineteen about 125 miles (200 km) south of Grand Cayman. At the time, the depression was drifting eastward, located near the base of a mid-level trough and toward the west of a subtropical ridge. In the hours after its formation, the center remained located along the western portion of a cyclonically curved rainband as the convection increased. The wind shear decreased, and despite the presence of dry air to its northwest, the depression intensified to Tropical Storm Richard by 1500 UTC on October 21, based on confirmation from the Hurricane Hunters. However post–operational analysis revealed that the depression became a tropical storm slightly earlier, at 1200 UTC.〔 Upon intensifying to tropical storm status, Richard was moving southeastward, still in an area of weak steering currents and in the midst of undergoing a loop in its track. Two hurricane models predicted for the storm to intensify to major hurricane status over the western Caribbean. The official forecast was for the storm to make landfall on Belize with winds of 90 mph (150 km/h).〔 As Richard continued generally southward early on October 22, its convection became ragged and linear, preventing any initial strengthening. Additionally, the circulation became elongated as the thunderstorms deteriorated, due to the continued presence of dry air and wind shear. After turning westward, Richard moved parallel just offshore the Honduras coast, and its circulation became difficult to locate on satellite imagery. On October 23, Tropical Storm Richard began strengthening again, after the shear diminished and the storm took advantage of the warm waters of the western Caribbean. Later that day, a mid-level eye feature became evident on satellite imagery. Additionally, the outflow gradually improved and became more symmetrical throughout the circulation. On October 24, Hurricane Hunters indicated that Richard attained hurricane status, based on surface winds of 85 mph (135 km/h). In addition, radar from Belize at the time indicated a nearly-closed eyewall. The hurricane continued intensifying to peak winds of 100 mph (150 km/h), and the minimum central pressure dropped to 977 millibars (28.9 inHg), making it a Category 2 hurricane, despite the fact that it was operationally classified as a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 90 mph (140 km/h) and a pressure of 981 millibars (29.0 inHg). At around 0045 UTC on October 25, Hurricane Richard made landfall about 20 miles (35 km/h) south-southeast of Belize City, Belize at peak intensity,〔 and just after moving ashore, the eye briefly became better defined. Within a few hours however, the inner core lost definition as the eye dissipated. The winds rapidly diminished, and Richard weakened to tropical depression status after crossing into northern Guatemala. By then, there was little deep convection remaining, and after emerging into the Bay of Campeche Richard degenerated into a remnant low on October 26, but then turned back east as the system was forced to because of the strong wind shear. After the storm reached the Yucatán Peninsula, the system began turning north until it reached the Gulf of Mexico. The remnants of Hurricane Richard continued to move north over the Gulf of Mexico as it weakened, until the system dissipated completely, late on October 27. 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 Richard」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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