Hurricane Alice (December 1954)
| Category 1 hurricane ( SSHWS ) | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Emergence | December 30, 1954 | |
| resolution | January 6, 1955 | |
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Peak wind speed |
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| Lowest air pressure | 980 mbar ( hPa ; 29 inHg ) | |
| dead | none reported | |
| Property damage | US $ 623,000 (1954) | |
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Affected areas |
Lesser Antilles | |
| Season overview: 1954 Atlantic hurricane season |
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Hurricane Alice is the only known Atlantic hurricane that existed through the turn of the year and, along with Tropical Storm Zeta of 2005, is one of only two tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic that did. The sixteenth tropical storm and eighth hurricane of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season developed on December 30, 1954 from a low pressure trough in the central Atlantic Ocean in an area with unusually favorable conditions. The storm moved southwest and gradually intensified until it reached hurricane strength. After the hurricane hit the Leeward Islands on January 2, 1955 , Alice peaked in winds of 150 km / h before the system encountered cold air and turned to the southeast. The system continued to weaken and drift further south until it disintegrated over the southeastern Caribbean Sea on January 6, 1955 .
Alice generated heavy rain and moderate winds on several islands along her path. Saba and Anguilla were hardest hit, and property damage there was later estimated at $ 623,500 ($ 5,942,000 in today's prices).
Hurricane Alice had previously occurred in the same season . This happened because, operationally, the lack of final data resulted in the US Weather Bureau not declaring the system a hurricane until Jan. 2. So it was named Alice in early 1955, although the later reanalysis of the data showed that the train track data had been extended back to the previous year. This led to the situation that two tropical cyclones were given the same name in the same season.
Storm course
A cold front moved southeast from the east coast of the United States on December 23, 1954 and passed through Bermuda two days later . A strong anticyclone developed behind the cold front, and on December 26th a trough extended south from the cold front. The anticyclones moved southeast, while the trough and cold front moved east. The trough gradually slowed down as the steering currents turned eastwards under the influence of high pressure. Convection over the trough increased as it moved over relatively warm water - about 1 ° C above normal - and tropical cyclogenesis began after circulation began to form along the northern part of the trough. The system was evolving and moving westward, and closed circulation was determined based on three ship reports. The system is believed to have developed into a tropical depression on December 31, approximately 1,245 km east-northeast of Barbuda .
With a narrow high pressure ridge in its north, the low pressure area moved west-southwest. Atmospheric conditions were exceptionally favorable for this time of year as the high pressure ridge prevented cold air from the north from reaching the central Atlantic Ocean. This enabled the depression to intensify into a tropical storm late on December 30th. There were few direct observations over the next few days, but the storm is believed to intensify into a hurricane on December 31st. On January 1, 1955, a ship that was about 15 km away from the center of the hurricane reported winds at hurricane strength and an air pressure of 987 mbar . Based on this report and reports from other ships, the San Juan Weather Bureau Office classified the system as tropical. The hurricane continued to move southwest, reaching the Caribbean Sea on January 2, having passed between Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy . Part of the Eyewall passed over Saint Martin and Saba. Based on reports of winds just under hurricane force from the affected islands, an information bulletin named the system as Hurricane Alice. During its existence, Alice was a small tropical cyclone that was only about 95 km in diameter.
Reconnaissance planes flew into the hurricane on January 3 and confirmed the existence of the tropical cyclone by measuring wind speeds in the range of 95 to 105 km / h and finding a warm core. It is believed that Alice intensified further as she cruised the Caribbean on a south-westerly course, reaching its greatest intensity with winds of 130 km / h about 150 km west-northwest of Montserrat . At this stage, the hurricane formed a ring of convection around his eye, and Alice maintained the peak intensity for about 24 hours until cold air from the north weakened it. On January 3, a nontropical cyclogenesis occurred north of Bermuda , which weakened the high pressure system north of Alice and brought the steering flow in the Caribbean into line with the cold northwest. Alice assumed a southeasterly migration direction on January 4th and soon after weakened into a tropical storm. The convection became increasingly disorganized, and after Alice weakened to tropical depression on January 5, the system disintegrated about 160 km west-northwest of Grenada on January 6 .
Impact, name and weather records
Subsequent to confirming the existence of Hurricane Alice, the US Weather Bureau Office in San Juan, Puerto Rico warned the islands of the Lesser Antilles of high winds and rough seas. Hurricane Alice generated moderate to strong winds on the islands with peaks of 130 km / h on Saint Barthélemy and 120 km / h on Saba . The hurricane dropped moderate to heavy rainfall on the various islands, including 286 mm in 48 hours on Saba. Due to its small size, the hurricane only had a significant impact on a few islands. Saint-Barthélemy, Saba, Anguilla , Sint Eustatius and Saint Kitts all reported storm damage, which totaled USD 623,500 (USD 5,942,000 in today's prices). The worst damage affected Saba and Anguilla, mostly to docks and the harvest. In addition, 626 houses were destroyed or severely damaged on Anguilla. The causes of the damage were mostly heavy rain and the rough seas, not the direct effects of the wind. The passage of Hurricane Alice created extensive problems for the economies of the small islands affected. The storm's outer rain bands, however, eased the drought conditions in Puerto Rico that had persisted since the previous October. No deaths were reported related to the hurricane.
The storm formed on December 30, 1954. In the period before the use of weather satellites , meteorologists had to rely on reports from ships or islands in the Atlantic to localize storms and determine their course. This information was often only sketchy, and two tropical cyclones, including a Category 2 hurricane , went unnoticed in 1954. Hurricane Alice was not classified as a significant tropical cyclone until January 2, 1955. At the time, the National Weather Service used the same list of names every year, so the system was named Alice and considered part of the 1955 Atlantic Hurricane season . However, the subsequent post-analysis found that the storm actually formed on December 30, 1954 and thus belongs to the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season . Because of this, the 1954 season has two hurricanes named Alice , namely the first and last storm of the season. Had Alice been discovered in operations before the end of the year, the system would have been named Irene , which was the next name on the list. To avoid confusion with the earlier Alice from June 1954, the later storm Alice2 is mentioned in some reports .
Alice formed later in the calendar year than any other recorded tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean, six hours later in the season than Tropical Storm Zeta in the 2005 season . In addition, Alice was one of only eight tropical cyclones in the Atlantic to form in December. This storm was the first of the two Atlantic tropical cyclones that survived the New Year, the other was Zeta. Alice was also one of only six tropical or subtropical cyclones that existed in January and the strongest of these storms.
supporting documents
- ↑ José A. Colón: On the formation of Hurricane Alice, 1955 . (PDF) In: US Weather (Ed.): Monthly Weather Review Bureau . 84, No. 1, 1955. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
- ^ Gordon E. Dunn, Walter R. Davis: Hurricanes of 1955 ( English , PDF) Miami, Florida Weather Bureau Office. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
- ^ Alan Warren: Flood risk management for a Caribbean island ( English , PDF) Institution of Civil Engineers on Anguilla. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
- ^ National Weather Service: Has there ever been a Tropical Storm so late in the year before? ( English ) Archived from the original on 31 December 2006. Information: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
- ↑ Hurricane Enterprises LLC: Oddball Tropical Systems ( English , PDF) Archived from the original on August 16, 2006. Retrieved on December 7, 2006.
- ^ National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane best track (Hurdat) ( English ) Hurricane Research Division. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research. April 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
