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Tropical Storm Agatha was a weak but catastrophic tropical cyclone that brought widespread floods to much of Central America, and was the deadliest tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific since Hurricane Pauline in 1997. The first storm of the 2010 Pacific hurricane season, Agatha originated from the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a region of thunderstorms across the tropics. It developed into a tropical depression on May 29 and tropical storm later, it was dissipated on May 30, reaching top winds of 45 mph ( and a lowest pressure of 1000 mbar (hPa; 29.53 inHg). It made landfall near the Guatemala–Mexico border on the evening of May 29. Agatha produced torrential rain all across Central America, which resulted in the death of one person in Nicaragua. In Guatemala, 152 people were killed and 100 left missing by landslides. Thirteen deaths also occurred in El Salvador. Agatha soon dissipated over Guatemala. As of June 15, officials in Guatemala have stated that 165 people were killed and 113 others are missing. In all, Agatha caused at least 204 fatalities, and roughly $1.1 billion in damage throughout Central America. ==Meteorological history== Tropical Storm Agatha originated from an area of convection, or thunderstorms, that developed on May 24, off the west coast of Costa Rica. At the time, there was a trough in the region that extended into the southwestern Caribbean Sea, associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The system drifted northwestward, and conditions favored further development. On May 25, the convection became more concentrated, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted the potential for a tropical depression to develop. The next day, it briefly became disorganized, as its circulation was broad and elongated; however, the disturbance was in a very moist environment, and multiple low level centers gradually organized into one. The low continued to get better organized; however, there was a lack of a well-defined circulation. On May 29, after further organization of the circulation and convection, the NHC initiated advisories on ''Tropical Depression One-E'' while the system was located about 295 miles (475 km) west of San Salvador, El Salvador. Upon becoming a tropical cyclone, the system was located in an environment with little wind shear and waters of 30 °C (86 °F). As such, it was expected to strengthen, although the mountainous terrain of the Central American coastline limited significant intensification. The depression moved slowly northeastward around the western periphery of a ridge located over northern South America.〔 Several hours later, satellites monitoring the system discovered tropical storm-force winds, prompting the NHC to upgrade the depression to Tropical Storm Agatha. Around this time, it was noted that there was a 40% chance of the system undergoing rapid intensification within the following 24 hours as the only limiting factor was its proximity to land. However, the storm failed to intensify much, peaking in intensity with winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and a barometric pressure of 1000 mbar (hPa; 29.53 inHg). Within two hours of reaching this strength, Agatha abruptly relocated northward and made landfall near the Guatemala-Mexico border. After landfall, Agatha continued to cause floods and landslides, however it did not bring a lot of tropical storm force winds on shore. The system weakened quickly after coming on shore, dropping its winds to (20 knots, and its pressure to (hPa; ) before dissipating. A burst of convection re-emerged east of Belize, in the Atlantic basin, on May 31. On June 1, the National Hurricane Center stated that the remnants of Tropical Storm Agatha had only a low chance of regeneration in the western Caribbean Sea. 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「Tropical Storm Agatha」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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