Hurricane Roxanne

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Hurricane Roxanne

Category 3 hurricane (SSHS)

Hurricane Roxanne on October 11, 1995 at 03:15 UTC

Formed

October 7, 1995

Dissipated

October 21, 1995

Highest
winds

115 mph (180 km/h) (1-minute sustained)

Lowest pressure

956 millibars, 28.23 inches

Damage

$2 billion (2005 dollars)
$2.6 billion (2006 USD)

Fatalities

14 direct

Areas
affected

Several parts of Mexico

Part of the
1995 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Roxanne was the seventeenth storm, tenth hurricane, and the fifth and final major hurricane of the 1995 Atlantic hurricane season. Roxanne was the first storm to be assigned a name beginning with 'R' since hurricane naming began in the Atlantic in 1950 (and one of only two such names ever used - the other being Rita in 2005).

1 Storm history
2 Preparations
3 Impact
- 3.1 Retirement
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Storm history

Storm path

Roxanne formed from a tropical wave that merged with a broad low pressure area and an upper trough just off the coast of Honduras. Despite this being a confusing formation, it is rather common in the western Caribbean. All of these factors formed a tropical depression in the western Caribbean on October 7. Satellite images indicated steady strengthening. At 0000 UTC, the depression became Tropical Storm Roxanne. Roxanne now posed a threat to the Cayman Islands and Cuba. However, the trough that was steering Roxanne to the north moved on and was replaced with a high pressure system. This forced Roxanne west. As the storm moved towards the Yucatan, it intensified greatly.

During the afternoon of the 10th, as Roxanne became a hurricane, a well-developed eye formed. Shortly after Roxanne reached hurricane strength, it rapidly intensified to Category 3 strength (the first time that had happened in the western Caribbean Sea since the 1961 season when Hurricane Hattie took a very similar turn and intensification cycle.[1]). Roxanne made landfall near peak intensity just north of Tulum, a small town near Cozumel, Mexico, with sustained winds near 115pmh. Roxanne did not drop hurricane strength over land, despite the hurricane being inland for almost a full day and a half.

Roxanne emerged over water in the Bay of Campeche as a minimal hurricane. Roxanne weakened to a tropical storm again shortly after exiting the coast, and turned northwest. As soon as the circulation was mostly over water, Roxanne became a hurricane again. Steering currents over the southern Gulf were weak. Hurricane Roxanne trudged southeast, threatening the Yucatan again before again turning northwest. Roxanne steadily weakened, turned south, and finally dissipated near the southern end of the Bay of Campeche.

[edit] Preparations

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Roxanne's very slow and erratic path was fraught with hurricane watches and warnings. On October 9, a tropical storm warning was issued for the Cayman Islands. In addition, a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were issued for Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Youth. Hurricane watches were also issued from Chetumal to Cabo Catoche in Mexico. Early on the 10th, hurricane watches went up for the Chetumal area and the coast northward and westward to Progreso; later that day, these watches were upgraded to warnings. An additional hurricane watch was issued for the area west of Progreso to Carmen City, while the watches and warnings for the Cayman Islands were discontinued. Belize City was placed under a tropical storm warning late that night that quickly expired the next morning. New hurricane warnings were issued for the city of Carmen to Coatzacoalcos and Tuxpan and both a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were issued for Tampico. The watch moved northward the next day, when a hurricane warning was re-issued for Progreso to Tampico while Roxanne meandered in the Bay of Campeche. However, the hurricane warning was downgraded to a tropical storm warning two days later. After no change in watches and warning on the 17th, the tropical storm warning issued for Tampico was discontinued. A new warning was issued for Tuxpan late on the 18th, but discontinued the next morning. Major evacuations were undertaken as Roxanne approached, with thousands being evacuated. The mass evacuations were a likely contributing factor in Roxane's low death toll of 14. Red cross helped.

[edit] Impact

Roxanne caused 14 deaths, with five of them coming from the sinking of a petroleum work barge with 245 people on board. There was massive damage in Mexico across numerous Mexican states. Over forty thousand homes were destroyed in the States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco Veracruz and Yucatan. Crops were destroyed, cattle drowned, and roads were either washed out or blocked by mudslides. The road between the City of Carmen and Campeche was completely destroyed. There are unconfirmed reports that many hotel lobbies in Cancun and Cozumel were damaged from pounding waves. Rainfall and storm surge combined with overflowing rivers caused the worst flooding in Campeche since 1927. The storm surge also pounded the Mexican coastline for days and the Gulf waters surged inland hundreds of yards.

Roxanne struck an area that had been directly struck by Hurricane Opal just a few weeks earlier and all damage could not be sorted out from Opal and Roxanne. Combined damage was estimated in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion.

[edit] Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricanes

Because of the major damage in Mexico, the name Roxanne was retired in the spring of 1996 and will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. It was replaced with Rebekah in the 2001 season, and will be appearing in the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season.