Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary #171 (November 6 - 13, 1994)

[Jack Beven]

This report is compiled from warnings issued by:
National Hurricane Center Central Pacific Hurricane Center
Naval Western Oceanography 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 #171 NOVEMBER 6 - 13, 1994

North Atlantic Basin:

Hurricane Florence: At the start of the summary period, Florence was
moving north-northeast with 70 kt winds. Florence accelerated east-northeast
on 7 November as it reached a peak intensity of 85 kt. Florence further
accelerated toward the northeast on 8 November. It became extratropical later
that day near 46N 33W. While Florence was moving 45-50 kt on 8 November, it
was overtaken by a cold front that gained more than 200 nm on the storm in
8 hr!

Tropical Storm Gordon: Tropical Depression Twelve formed near 12N 83W on
8 November. Initially moving northwest, the system continued this track until
it moved into eastern Nicaragua on 9 November. The depression moved north-
northeast back into the Caribbean on 10 November, and it reached tropical
storm intensity later that day. Gordon continued north-northeast on 11 Novem-
ber, then it turned east-northeast the next day. Gordon moved east on 13 No-
vember, then it turned northeast across Jamaica and southeastern Cuba. The
storm turned north later on 13 November as it interacted with an upper level
low. This interaction caused Gordon to acquire subtropical storm characteris-
tics. At the end of the summary period, Gordon was moving north into the
southeastern Bahamas with 40 kt winds.

There are numerous observations available from Gordon. Reconnaissance air-
craft reported a minimum pressure of 999 mb on several occasions during 11-13
November. This was confirmed by ship VRRF, which reported 1000.5 mb at 2100
UTC 11 November. Kingston, Jamaica reported a 1002 mb pressure at 0700 UTC 13
November. Ship C6HE2 reported 44 kt sustained winds at 1800 UTC 13 November.
The highest reported wind was a gust to 104 kt at the Guantanamo Bay Naval
Base, Cuba. This was apparently due to a severe thunderstorm, and it is not
considered representative of the true strength of Gordon at the time.

Gordon had a large circulation that affected much of the western Caribbean
and the adjacent land areas. The hardest hit was Haiti, which received a large
amount of rain from a slow moving feeder band. Press reports indicate that 531
people were killed with more missing due to flooding and mudslides. Six people
were killed in Costa Rica due to flooding caused by another feeder band. Two
people were reported killed on Cuba, with two more killed on Jamaica. Despite
the strong wind gust at the Guantanamo refugee camps, only two injuries were
reported. Also, although aircraft data indicated the system was near tropical
storm strength when it moved into Nicaragua, there are no reports of damage or
casualties from there.

Next week's summary will have more on Gordon's checkered career, including
it's lashing of south Florida.

Eastern North Pacific Basin (E of 140 Deg. W): No tropical cyclones.

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

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

Typhoon Zelda: At the start of the summary period, Zelda was moving north-
northeast through the open Pacific with 115 kt winds. Zelda accelerated on 7
November, then it turned east-northeast later that day. Rapid weakening
occurred during this time, and Zelda weakened to a tropical storm before
becoming extratropical near 32N 144E on 8 November. Although Zelda affected
the Mariana Islands earlier in it's life, there are no reports of damage or
casualties at this time.

North Indian Ocean Basin: No tropical cyclones.

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

South Pacific Ocean Basin (E of 135 Deg. E):

Tropical Cyclone 01P: A tropical depression formed near 11S 171E on 12
November. Initially moving south-southwest, the system turned west-southwest
on 13 November as it reached tropical storm strength. At the end of the
summary period, TC-01P was continuing west-southwest with 35 kt winds.


Disclaimer: While an effort has been made to insure that this information is
as accurate as possible, it was drawn from operational warnings that 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:

be...@hrd-tardis.nhc.noaa.gov or jbe...@delphi.com

Past text copies of the Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary can be obtained via 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 Greg Deuel at the
DMSP satellite archive. It can be found at: http://web.ngdc.noaa.gov/ under
the Weekly Updated Items section 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 Greg Deuel at Internet
address:

g...@po-box.ngdc.noaa.gov.