Tropical Storm Barry Getting Stronger, July 12, 2019 (Source: NOAA) |
A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when sustained winds around
the center of circulation reach 74 mph. In
systems like this, the major impact is flash flooding that results from a
copious amount of rainfall, often 10” to 15”.
Rainfall totals from tropical systems largely depend on how quickly the
system moves.
Barry’s landfall as a Category 1 hurricane set a series of
benchmarks. Barry became the first July
hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana since Cindy in 2005. It was also the first hurricane to make
landfall in the United States during the month of July since Arthur in
2014. Overall, the last hurricane to
make landfall in the state of Louisiana in any month was Nate in October 2017.
In addition to flooding, Barry is generating isolated reports of severe
weather. Landfalling tropical systems
often spawn tornadoes as the storm’s circulation interacts with a given land
mass. Fortunately, the majority of
tornadoes that occur under these circumstances are relatively weak. However, they are dangerous since sight of
them is quite frequently obstructed by heavy rainfall. It will take some time to assess the final
impacts of Barry, since the destruction of landfalling tropical systems often
extends well-inland.
Barry and Cindy were both minimal Category 1 hurricanes at their
respective times of landfall in Louisiana.
However, Cindy made landfall earlier in the season than Barry, having
come ashore on July 5, 2005. Other
significant hurricanes have developed in July.
Hurricane Dennis was a powerful Category 4 hurricane with sustained
winds of 150 mph while over the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. Fortunately, it weakened prior to making
landfall in the Florida panhandle as a Category 3.
For a short time, Dennis was the strongest July hurricane on
record in the Atlantic Ocean Basin (the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico). That was before Hurricane Emily briefly
became a Category 5 hurricane on July 16, 2005.
It had sustained winds of 160 mph at peak intensity southwest of
Jamaica. Although Emily didn’t make
landfall in the United States as Cindy and Dennis did, its impact was felt in
the Caribbean Sea, Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico as well as mainland Mexico.
Hurricane Barry is the second named storm of 2019 and the
Atlantic’s first hurricane of the season. NOAA scientists are expecting an average
hurricane season this year. An average
season has 12 tropical storms, of which 6 become hurricanes with 3 major
hurricanes. A “major” hurricane has
sustained winds of at least 111 mph, making it a Category 3.
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