Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary #215 (September 10 - 17, 1995)

[Jack Beven]

This report is compiled from warnings issued by:
National Hurricane Center Central Pacific Hurricane Center
Naval Pacific Meteor./Ocean. Center Fiji Meteorological Service
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Joint Typhoon Warning Center
Japanese Meteorological Agency Bureau of Meteorology, Australia
Philippine Meteorological Service Royal Observatory of Hong Kong
Indian Meteorological Department Reunion Meteorological Service
Mauritius Meteorological Service
(others may be added as they become available)


WEEKLY TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY #215 SEPTEMBER 10 - 17, 1995

North Atlantic Basin:

Hurricane Luis Correction: Luis actually passed near Cape Race, New-
foundland on early on 11 September. It became extratropical later that day
near 49N 51W.

Tropical Depression Fourteen: Tropical Depression Fourteen formed near
24N 54W on 11 September. Initially moving northwest, the cyclone turned west-
northwest the next day. The depression turned west before dissipating near 26N
62W on 13 September.

Hurricane Marilyn: Tropical Depression Fifteen formed near 12N 53W on 12
September. Moving west, the cyclone reached tropical storm strength the next
day. Marilyn turned northwest and reached hurricane strength just before
passing near the island of Dominica on 14 September. Marilyn continued north-
west through 16 September, passing through the Virgin Islands and just east of
Puerto Rico. The storm reached a peak intensity of 100 kt just after moving
through the Virgin Islands on 16 September. Marilyn turned north-northwest on
17 September, and at the end of the summary period it was continuing this
track with 80 kt winds.

A reconnaissance plane measured a minimum central pressure of 949 mb at
0244 UTC 17 September. The eye of Marilyn passed over the east end of St.
Croix late on 15 September. Unofficial observations indicated a minimum
pressure of 968 mb and a peak gust of 110 kt. No other surface observations
are available near Marilyn.

Marilyn affected the Caribbean islands from St. Lucia to Puerto Rico.
Worst hit were the Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix. Press reports
indicate that 9 people were killed on St. Thomas, with 80% of the buildings
destroyed or damaged. Twenty percent of the buildings on St. Croix were
reported destroyed or damaged. Monetary damage figures are not available at
this time.

Eastern North Pacific Basin (E of 140 Deg. W):

Hurricane Ismael: Tropical Depression 10E formed near 15N 107W on 12 Sep-
tember. Initially moving north-northwest, the system turned northwest the next
day as it reached tropical storm intensity. Ismael turned north on 14 Septem-
ber as it reached hurricane strength. The hurricane reached a peak intensity
of 75 kt just before making landfall near Los Mochis, Mexico on 15 September.
The storm rapidly weakened over northwest Mexico and dissipated over land the
next day.

Ismael affected northwest Mexico and portions of the Baja California
peninsula. Ship LAOQ2 reported 49 kt winds at 0300 UTC 14 September and a
minimum pressure of 1003.0 mb 2 hr later. Press reports indicate Ismael was
responsible for at 50 deaths and at least 21 others missing, primarily on
fishing boats in the Gulf of California. Property damage was reported in the
Los Mochis area, although monetary figures are not available at this time.
Nine thousand people were reported homeless.

Tropical Storm Juliette: Tropical Depression 11E formed near 15N 106W on
16 September. The system moved west-northwest through the end of the summary
period. The depression reached tropical storm strength on 17 September, and
at the end of the summary period Juliette was packing 45 kt winds.

Central North Pacific Basin (180 Deg. W to 140 Deg. W): No tropical cyclones.

Western North Pacific Basin (W of 180 Deg.):

Tropical Depression 16W: At the start of the summary period, Tropical
Depression 16W was approaching the coast of Vietnam at its peak intensity of
25 kt. The cyclone moved onshore and dissipated on 11 September. There are no
reports of damage, casualties, or significant weather. The remains of this
system tracked across southeast Asia and became Tropical Cyclone 01B over
the Bay of Bengal.

Typhoon Oscar: Tropical Depression 17W formed near 15N 148E on 11 Septem-
ber. Initially moving west-northwest, the cyclone turned northwest the next
day as it reached tropical storm strength. Oscar continued northwest through
14 September, then it turned north-northwest on 15 September. The storm
reached typhoon strength on 13 September and a peak intensity of 140 kt on 15
September. Oscar turned north-northeast on 16 September, then it accelerated
northeast on 17 September. The typhoon moved along the Japanese coast just
east of Tokyo around 0000 UTC 17 September. At the end of the summary period,
Oscar was east of Japan moving rapidly northeast with 80 kt winds.

Oscar affected eastern Japan and the northern Mariana Islands. Hachijojima
Island reported a minimum pressure of 937.6 mb at 0000 UTC 17 September. Max-
imum reported winds were 53 kt with gusts to 88 kt an hour later. Miyakejima
reported 66 kt sustained winds with gusts to 96 at 0100 UTC 17 September. The
automated station on Pagan in the Marianas reported a minimum pressure of
994.5 mb at 0200 UTC 13 September, with a peak gust of 46 kt 3 hr later.

Press reports indicate that Oscar caused 3 deaths in Japan, with 2 others
missing. Some minor property damage was reported. There are no reports of
damage or casualties from the Marianas.

Tropical Storm Polly: Tropical Depression 18W formed near 18N 124E on 14
September. The system reached tropical storm strength later that day as it
drifted erratically. Polly assumed an east-northeast track on 15 September,
and this continued through the next day. Polly turned north-northeast on 17
September, and at the end of the summary period it was continuing this track
with 55 kt winds. Ship JMLQ reported 46 kt winds at 0000 UTC 16 September,
while ship VNVG reported 42 kt winds at 1200 UTC the same day.

Tropical Storm Ryan: Tropical Depression 19W formed over the South China
Sea near 15N 116E on 15 September. The cyclone drifted west the next day as
it reached tropical storm strength. Ryan drifted north on 17 September, and
at the end of the summary period it was continuing this track with 45 kt
winds. Ship DFNA reported 45 kt winds at 1800 UTC 17 September.

North Indian Ocean Basin:

Tropical Cyclone 01B: The remains of Western Pacific Tropical Depression
16W moved into the Bay of Bengal and regained tropical depression status
near 10N 90E on 16 September. The system reached a peak intensity of 45 kt
before moving inland over eastern India later that day. TC-01B dissipated over
land on 17 September.

Balasore, India, reported a minimum pressure of 993.8 mb at 2100 UTC 16
September as the center passed just to the north. There are no reports of
damage or casualties at this time.

South Indian Ocean Basin (W of 135 Deg. E): No tropical cyclones.

South Pacific Ocean Basin (E of 135 Deg. E): No tropical cyclones.


Disclaimer: While an effort has been made to insure that this information is
as accurate as possible, this is a preliminary and unofficial report drawn
from operational warnings. Thus, it may not always agree with the best track
information published after the storm is over. Please address any questions
or comments on the information this week to Jack Beven at Internet addresses:

jbe...@delphi.com

or

be...@trdis.aoml.erl.gov

Past text copies of the Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary can be obtained via
anonymous ftp from squall.met.fsu.edu in directory pub/jack. They are also
available by e-mail. Please send an e-mail message to Jack Beven if you are
interested.

A digitized version of the weekly summary with DMSP polar orbiting imagery
is available over the World Wide Web. This is courtesy of the DMSP satellite
archive. It can be found at: http://web.ngdc.noaa.gov/ under the Weekly
Tropical Cyclone Summary link of the DMSP Satellite Archive home page.

For more information on the imagery and how to retrieve the digitized
summary and images by other methods, please contact the DMSP archive at:

dm...@ngdc.noaa.gov