Hurricanes Do Hit Canada. This Time Newfoundland Bore The Brunt

 Oh yes indeed, hurricanes do indeed hit Canada - especially the east coast. This time Huuricane Igor slammed Newfoundland and a week later many people are still cut off in remote villages while crews are frantically trying to repair completely washed out roads and bridges. It'll still be some time before they are back to normal.
   . . . June


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Ask the Weather Guys: Do hurricanes ever hit Canada?:

With recent attention on the massive and powerful Hurricane Igor in the Atlantic Ocean, the question arose as to whether hurricanes ever effect Canada.

The Maritime Provinces of eastern Canada are visited by the remnants of Atlantic hurricanes with some regularity. In fact, Hurricane Igor, which struck Bermuda on Sept. 19, struck the Avalon Peninsula in the far southeast portion of Newfoundland, Canada, on Sept. 21. Road washouts, toppled trees, flooding and some deaths were attributed to the storm.

By the time Igor made it to Newfoundland, it was in the process of transitioning from a tropical storm to an extratropical storm. Though the details of this process are fascinating and relevant for understanding some of the weather elements associated with the storm, the strong winds (in excess of 70 mph with gusts to over 115 mph) remained a significant aspect of Igor's path through Newfoundland.

Similar devastating events have occurred in the recent past, such as when Hurricane Juan struck Nova Scotia resulting in millions of dollars in damage to that province in late September 2003.

Igor will continue northward and gradually lose strength over a period of days in the Labrador Sea, west of Greenland. Stirring of the Labrador Sea by surface winds plays a role in the maintenance of the Gulf Stream circulation. By the time he is finished, Igor will have stirred the Atlantic Ocean from the tropics all the way to the Arctic Circle.

Read More . .

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Are Warmer Seas Fueling Hurricanes This Season?

 This year's hurricane season has been unusual. According to the following article, the four major Atlantic hurricanes that spun toward the Caribbean in the past month were fueled by record warm seas and formed in an unprecedented 20 days. With 10 weeks left in the hurricane season, more may be coming.
'The season may be busy for another month', “All the ingredients’’ are in place for major hurricanes to form this year' said Simon Young, chief executive of the insurer Caribbean Risk Managers.
   . . . June


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Warmer seas fueling hurricanes
The Boston Globe:

The four major Atlantic hurricanes that spun toward the Caribbean in the past month were fueled by record warm seas and formed in an unprecedented 20 days. With 10 weeks left in the hurricane season, more may be coming.

The storms that were born off west Africa gathered strength by absorbing the ocean’s heat and swelled into Category 4-level hurricanes on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. While none hit land at full speed, each packed winds of at least 131 miles an hour, stronger than Katrina’s Category 3 winds when it devastated New Orleans in 2005.

After Igor churned past Bermuda Monday and cut power to two-thirds of the island’s residents, Tropical Storm Lisa formed yesterday in the east Atlantic. While the six-month season is past its statistical peak, forecasters and insurers said warmer seas can lengthen the danger period to property, from beach homes in Florida to rigs and refineries in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico.

“The hotter the water, the higher the octane level, and there [are] going to be far more Category 4 and 5 hurricanes,’’ said Jim Rouiller, an Air Force meteorologist for 20 years who works for Planalytics Inc. in Berwyn, Pa.

The season may be busy for another month, said Simon Young, chief executive of the insurer Caribbean Risk Managers. “All the ingredients’’ were in place for major hurricanes to form this year, he said.

The National Hurricane Center predicts 2010 will have as many as 20 storms of at least 39 mile-per-hour winds, meaning they will be named, compared with 11 in a typical year. Lisa’s formation yesterday brought this year’s tally to 12. The Miami-based center has identified five major hurricanes in 2010 compared with two in an average season when waters are cooler.

Read on . . .