What dictates a hurricaneโs strength?
There are many ways to categorize a hurricane. The stormโs central pressure is one way. The height of its storm surge is another. How much rain it drops is another. And, of course, the strength of its wind is another. But what causes a hurricane to strengthen or weaken? The answer is simple enough, but multifaceted.
US Hurricane Center says Iota makes landfall on Nicaragua coast as dangerous Category 4 storm
MANAGUA โ Powerful Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast late Monday, threatening catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by equally strong Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. Iota had intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm early in the day, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it weakened slightly to Category 4, with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph (250 kph). Iota already had been hitting the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras with torrential rains and strong winds. Iota came ashore just 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of where Hurricane Eta made landfall Nov. 3, also as a Category 4 storm. It also sets the record for the latest Category 5 hurricane on record, beating the record set by the Nov. 8, 1932, Cuba Hurricane.
LIVE TRACK, MORE: Zeta strengthens to a hurricane before hitting Yucatan, heading for US
MIAMI โ Hurricane Zeta lashed Mexicoโs Caribbean coast resorts around Tulum with high winds and rain Monday night as it headed toward the Yucatan Peninsula and then a possible landfall on the central U.S. Gulf Coast at midweek. It was the second time this month that boat captain Francisco Sosa Rosado had to perform the same maneuver, after Hurricane Delta hit the resort in early October. Trees felled by Hurricane Delta barely three weeks earlier still littered parts of Cancun, stacked along roadsides and in parks. Zeta broke the record for the previous earliest 27th Atlantic named storm that formed Nov. 29, 2005. There was also a Tropical Storm Zeta in 2005, but that year had 28 storms because meteorologists later went back and found they missed one, which then became an โunnamed named storm."
LIVE TRACK: Tropical Storm Zeta posed to be a hurricane threat to US Gulf Coast
MIAMI โ Newly formed Tropical Storm Zeta stalled Sunday in the western Caribbean, but forecasters said it posed the risk of a rain-heavy hurricane for Mexicoโs resort-dotted Yucatan Peninsula and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Zeta was the earliest named 27th Atlantic storm recorded in an already historic hurricane season. The system was centered about 255 miles (410 kilometers) southeast of Cozumel island in Mexico Sunday morning, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Atlantic storms that made landfall moved 2.9 mph (4.7 kph) slower than 60 years ago, the study found. The hurricane center said it could make landfall anywhere from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
History proves it: October is an active month for hurricanes in Florida
In fact, 11 major hurricanes, Category 3 or higher, have made landfall in Florida during the 10th month of the year. Being a peninsula doesnโt help when tropical cyclones tend to form in the western Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Not only is the state prone to Atlantic storms, but the Gulf of Mexico tosses a few our way, too. The most recent and memorable hurricane to strike Florida in October is Hurricane Michael in 2018. It was a tropical storm by the time it reached Naples, spawning five tornadoes that injured 65 people and destroyed 645 homes.
Governor announces loan program to help with housing after Hurricane Michael
Ron DeSantis was in Panama City Monday afternoon to announce a program that will provide $15,000 loans to help residents find housing after Hurricane Michael. DeSantis said that come Sept. 1, the state will relaunch the Hurricane Michael loan recovery program to provide residents with $15,000 loans to assist with housing costs. โExpected to launch September 1, the Hurricane Michael Recovery Loan Program will offer below market 30-year fixed rate first mortgages coupled with up to $15,000 in down payment (DPA) and closing cost assistance for qualified homebuyers. DPA loans will be zero percent interest, non-amortizing and forgivable at 20 percent per year over five years. The DPA loan is fully forgivable if an active duty serviceperson is officially reassigned and must sell the home,โ it read.
Good riddance! Hurricane season comes to an end
ORLANDO, Fla. โ One name will be remembered above all this hurricane season. Dorian wasnโt the only Category 5 hurricane of the 2019 season. Nestor, albeit a weak tropical storm, had the biggest impact on Central Florida this hurricane season. As of Nov 30 there have been 18 named-storms. While the season officially ends Nov 30, storms, even hurricanes can still develop in December.