Hurricane Karl (2004)

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Hurricane Karl

Category 4 hurricane (SSHS)

Hurricane Karl at peak intensity on September 21, 2004

Formed

September 16, 2004

Dissipated

September 28, 2004

Highest
winds

145 mph (230 km/h) (1-minute sustained)

Lowest pressure

938 mbar (hPa; 27.71 inHg)

Fatalities

None

Damage

None

Areas
affected

Faroe Islands

Part of the
2004 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Karl was a powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane during the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the eleventh named storm, eighth hurricane and fifth major hurricane of the 2004 season.

Karl formed on September 16 from a strong tropical wave off Africa. It rapidly intensified, becoming a major hurricane on two occasions. Karl peaked as a strong Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale on September 21 with 145 mph (230 km/h) winds. It weakened as it moved northward, becoming extratropical on September 24 in the north Atlantic and becoming absorbed by another system on September 28. The extratropical system would affect the Faroe Islands, but no damage was reported there and no lives were lost.

1 Storm history
2 Impact
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Storm history

The origin of Karl was a strong tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on September 13.^[1] The wave slowly became better organized, and it was declared Tropical Depression Twelve about 670 miles (1,080 km) west-southwest of the Cape Verde islands on the morning of September 16. That afternoon, Karl quickly became better organized and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Karl.

Due to the healthy outflow and in a favorable environment with the warmest sea surface temperatures of the year, rapid deepening began on the evening of September 17.^[2] Karl moved westward in the open tropical Atlantic, following the periphery of the subtropical ridge. On the evening of September 17, a small eye developed^[3] and the storm was upgraded to Hurricane Karl.^[1] With SST's around 83°F (28°C) and minimal wind shear^[4], Karl continued to rapidly intensify on the morning of September 18, strengthening into a Category 2 hurricane. The intensity levelled off somewhat that afternoon as a strong Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 mph (175 km/h).^[1]

Storm path

Late in the evening of September 18, while still moving west on the southern periphery of the subtropical ridge, Karl intensified into a major hurricane for the first time, becoming the fifth major hurricane of 2004 (Jeanne became a major hurricane later). On September 19, Karl continued to strengthen gradually, maintaining a well-defined eye.^[5] Late on the 19th, Karl strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 135 mph (215 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 948 mbar.^[1] Early on September 20, the storm weakened slightly as a result of an eyewall replacement cycle, dropping back to a high-end Category 3 storm.^[6]. Karl also began to turn sharply northward as a result of a weakness in the subtropical ridge.^[1] That ended any significant land threats (much to the relief of those devastated by the equally-intense Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne).

After levelling off on September 20 due to the eyewall cycle and slightly increased shear^[7], Karl quickly restrengthened that evening and actually strengthened even more over very warm water. Early on September 21, Karl reached its peak intensity as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph (230 km/h) winds and a minimum central pressure of 938 mbar. Fortunately the storm was far away from any land areas at that time.^[1] That morning, as Karl was moving northward, another eyewall replacement cycle began to take place and vertical shear increased temporarily, weakening the storm for a while.^[8] The trend continued into the evening, and Karl weakened to a Category 2 hurricane by early on September 22.

The weakening trend slowed down and eventually levelled off that afternoon with Karl remaining a Category 2 hurricane as the storm turned towards the north-northeast.^[9] Late that evening, Karl began to restrengthen once again as wind shear diminished.^[10] The intensification continued into the morning of September 23, as Karl became a major hurricane a second time, reaching a final peak of 125 mph (205 km/h).^[1] After that, however, cooler waters and increased shear prevailed and the storm quickly weakened^[11], dropping to a Category 1 hurricane by late that evening as the low-level circulation became detached from the mid-level circulation due to the strong southwesterly shear.^[12]

Early on September 24, Karl continued its north-northeast track over the open north-central Atlantic and continued to gradually weaken. It started to come in contact with the baroclinic zone and began to lose tropical characterstics, while still a Category 1 hurricane.^[13] Karl became extratropical shortly afterward over the northern Atlantic at about 47°N, weakening below hurricane strength shortly thereafter.^[1] The extratropical storm made landfall on the Faroe Islands at just under hurricane strength and with hurricane-force gusts. As an extratropical low, Karl moved northeastward and eastward across the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, eventually reaching Norway before it was absorbed into another extratropical low late on September 28.^[1]

[edit] Impact

Karl made landfall in the Faroe Islands as an extratropical storm with sustained winds near 70 mph (110 km/h)^[1] and with wind gusts of 89 mph (144 km/h). No damage was reported and no deaths were claimed.

No ships came directly into contact with Karl; the strongest winds reported were from the ship Rotterdam, which reported 52 mph (83 km/h) sustained winds in the north Atlantic while Karl was a Category 1 storm in extratropical transition.^[1]