Tropical Storm Zeta (2005)
| Tropical Storm ( SSHWS ) | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Emergence | December 29, 2005 | |
| resolution | January 6, 2006 | |
|
Peak wind speed |
|
|
| Lowest air pressure | 994 mbar ( hPa ; 29.4 inHg ) | |
| dead | no | |
| Property damage | no | |
|
Affected areas |
Central Atlantic | |
| Season overview: Atlantic hurricane season 2005 |
||
Tropical Storm Zeta was a very late developing storm that formed over the central Atlantic more than four weeks after the official end of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and lasted into January 2006. It was the twenty-eighth tropical storm of the season; in no other year since the beginning of systematic weather records have more tropical storms been counted in the Atlantic Ocean.
Zeta developed on December 29th and initially moved west. During its lifetime, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicted the storm would subside quickly. Zeta did not adhere to these predictions and reached its greatest intensity on January 2, 2006. The system only dissolved on January 6th without endangering land areas.
Storm course
Late on December 29, 2005, a tropical depression in the eastern Atlantic developed from a frontal trough and turned into a tropical storm on early December 30. Since this happened more than four weeks after the official end of the hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center did not notice the system in operation until after it intensified into a tropical storm. The system initially moved northwest, but stalled on December 31st before swiveling west. In doing so, it intensified and reached sustained wind speeds of 95 km / h. As with the previous storm, Hurricane Epsilon , the NHC kept predicting that the system would weaken due to high wind shear, but Zeta maintained strength, as Epsilon had.
The tropical storm initially weakened slightly on January 2, before intensifying again and reaching its greatest strength with wind speeds of 100 km / h. One of the computer models showed that Zeta would continue to intensify and turn into a hurricane, but it didn't. Still, Zeta was reluctant to predict the NHC's slowdown, and on January 4th, growing frustration among meteorologists led Lixion Avila to say , "I run out of things to say . " The wind shear finally took its toll on Zeta late January 4, and the convection of the tropical storm began to die down. As a result, Zeta weakened to a minimal tropical storm, but the NHC continued to overestimate the speed at which Zeta would dissolve when Zeta was downgraded to tropical depression in the early morning of January 5th later proved to be a mistake. Zeta continued on its way north-northwest, barely maintaining tropical storm status, and was disorganized again. The next day, Zeta initially weakened to a tropical low pressure area and then dissolved into a residual low during the day, which finally ended the 2005 season on January 6, 2006. The remaining low could be tracked for another day before it completely dissolved about 1060 km southeast of Bermuda .
Effects
The motor ship Liberty Star reported several readings of Zeta's wind speeds, including one in the early hours of December 31, when the ship recorded a wind speed of 65 km / h 75 km north of the storm center.
At no time did Zeta endanger any coasts, so no storm warnings were issued. No property damage or personal injury was reported in connection with the storm.
Weather records
When Tropical Storm Zeta formed on December 31 at 6:00 a.m. UTC, it was the second-latest tropical cyclogenesis ever observed in the Atlantic hurricane basin - only Hurricane Alice formed a few hours later on the last day of the calendar year. Besides Alice, Zeta is the only known Atlantic cyclone that existed in two different calendar years. With a duration of seven days - six of them in 2006 - Zeta is the longest-running storm recorded in January to date. With the emergence of Zeta on the last day of the year, the record number of most Atlantic cyclones per season was increased to 28 storms - the previously valid maximum of the Atlantic hurricane season 1933 was 21 storms.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d National Hurricane Center: Tropical Cyclone Report: Tropical Storm Zeta ( English , PDF; 298 kB) NOAA. 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- ^ National Hurricane Center: Tropical Storm Zeta Discussion Number 11 ( English ) NOAA. January 1, 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2006.
- ^ National Hurricane Center: Tropical Storm Zeta Discussion Number 16 ( English ) NOAA. January 3, 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- ↑ National Hurricane Center: Tropical Storm Zeta Discussion Number 21 ( English ) NOAA. January 4, 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
- ^ National Hurricane Center: Tropical Depression Zeta Discussion Number 24 ( English ) NOAA. January 5, 2006. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
Web links
- National Hurricane Center : Tropical Cyclone Report Zeta (PDF, English; 298 kB)
- National Hurricane Center: Archives on Tropical Storm Zeta (in English)