Caribbean Hurricanes: December 2005 Archives

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December 7, 2005

Next Hurricane Season Predicted to Be Milder

Well - how could anyone predict it to be busier than 2005? You would have to be crazy. I just hope the scientists are right:

Dec. 6, 2005 �� With Hurricane Epsilon still swirling around far offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, William Gray and Philip Klotzbach at Colorado State University came out with their 2006 hurricane season predictions. They don't think it will be as bad as the one that officially ended Nov. 30.

"It is statistically unlikely that the coming 2006 and 2007 hurricane seasons will have the number of United States landfalling major hurricanes we have seen in the past two years," Gray said.

They said they expect 17 named storms, with nine becoming hurricanes. They think that five will become major hurricanes with winds over 111 mph.

"The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season will be an active one with net tropical cyclone activity about 195 percent of the average season," Klotzbach said.

More here.

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December 5, 2005

Hurricane rages on

From the AP:

MIAMI - Hurricane Epsilon surprised experts when it regained strength Sunday in the open Atlantic, but the lingering storm still posed no threat to land.

The 26th named storm of a record-breaking hurricane season had top sustained winds near 75 mph, just above the threshold for a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Epsilon first reached hurricane strength on Friday and is the 14th hurricane of the season.

At 10 p.m. Sunday, Epsilon's eye was about 630 miles west-southwest of the Azores and moving east near 9 mph.

The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and officially ended Wednesday.

Epsilon was only the fifth hurricane to form in December in more than 150 years of records, according to the hurricane center. The latest that a hurricane has formed in the Caribbean was Dec. 30, in 1954.

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December 3, 2005

Hurricane Season 2005 Finally Ends

From the EmeraldCoast.com:

After six months of non-stop hurricane action, Emerald Coast residents were able to breath a sigh of relief as Hurricane Season 2005 finally came to an end Nov. 30.

Although the hurricane season is officially over by standards of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, Tropical Storm Epsilon continues to gain strength out in the Atlantic. This raises many questions � can a hurricane season go into overtime?

Bermuda may face more damage from Epsilon, but Florida is in a safe zone for the next few months. The waters have cooled and Floridians have already started ripping the plywood from the windows.

Hurricane Season 2005 is definitely the most deadly and destructive hurricane season on record with more than 26 named storms, 13 hurricanes, and 1,400 deaths.

More here.

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Looking Back at Hurricane Season 2005

From WECT: (includes a video link)

DECEMBER 1, 2005 -- The 2005 hurricane season has been one for the record books, with the 26th storm of the season, Epsilon, still going on in the central Atlantic. Overall, there have been 26 named storms, 13 hurricanes, and seven hurricanes that hit category 3 strength, all of which are two to three times the long term averages. Three of those seveb intense hurricanes, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, hit category 5 strength.

Katrina certainly was the worst storm of the season to make landfall on the morning of August 29 in southeastern Louisiana and the Mississippi coast and becoming the most costly hurricane in U.S. history, with an estimated $80 billion worth of damage.

Locally, Hurricane Ophelia passed just offshore on September 14, with the northern and western eyewall affecting our coastal counties as the center of the storm stayed just offshore.

Two of this year's storms may get a postumous upgrade as well. The National Hurricane Center is looking into whether Cindy was a minimal hurricane at landfall in Louisiana in early July, and whether Hurricane Emily briefly reached category 5 strength in the Caribbean in mid-July.

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