Tropical Storm Hermine (2004)

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Tropical Storm Hermine
Tropical storm (SSHS)
Hermine at peak intensity, with Gaston to the southwest

Hermine at peak intensity, with Gaston to the southwest
Formed August 27, 2004
Dissipated August 31, 2004
Highest
winds
60 mph (95 km/h) (1-minute sustained)
Lowest pressure 1002 mbar (hPa; 29.6 inHg)
Fatalities None
Damage Unknown
Areas
affected
Massachusetts, New Brunswick
Part of the
2004 Atlantic hurricane season

Tropical Storm Hermine was a moderate tropical storm that made landfall in southeastern Massachusetts. It was the eighth tropical storm of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was a short-lived storm that made landfall in Massachusetts but did very little damage.

Contents

[edit] Storm History

Storm path
Storm path

Hermine formed out of a nearly stationary front about 325 miles (520 km) southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, or 360 miles (580 km) west of Bermuda on August 27, becoming Tropical Depression 8. It was the same front that Gaston developed from. It slowly organized itself enough to become a tropical storm and became the eighth storm of the season with the name Hermine.[1]

Hermine moved very rapidly north towards Cape Cod, around the western periphery of the subtropical ridge.[2]. During its northward trek, Hermine left behind most of its convection. Hermine interacted with Hurricane Gaston which resulted in the weakening.[3] The storm made landfall near New Bedford, Massachusetts, early on August 31, appearing as little more than a low-level swirl of clouds.[1] Interestingly, Hermine made landfall on the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Carol's devastating landfall in New England.[4]

Hermine became extratropical a few hours after its first landfall, shortly before a second and final landfall in southern Maine. The remnant low center tracked up the Bay of Fundy later on August 31.[1]

Hermine separating itself from most of its convection
Hermine separating itself from most of its convection

[edit] Impact

Moderate to heavy rainfall and thunderstorms over Long Island and eastern parts of New England were attributed to Hermine, but most people did not realize a tropical storm had struck.[5][1]

A few bands of heavy rains and tropical storm force winds gust were recorded over eastern Massachusetts, but no sustained winds of tropical storm strength were measured in the area. Rainfall over Cape Cod and the adjacent islands was mostly less than half an inch (12.5 mm). However, the rainbands from Hurricane Gaston began to spread over the same area shortly after Hermine moved off of Cape Cod. This made it difficult to separate the rainfall amounts between these two systems.[1]

There were no casualties or reports of major damage caused by Hermine. But locally heavy rain in portions of southern New Brunswick, which received 40-55 mm (about 2 inches). Minor basement flooding and street closures were also reported in Moncton, New Brunswick.[6]

[edit] Lack of retirement

Due to the very minimal amount of damage, Hermine was not retired by the World Meteorological Organization in the spring of 2005 and is expected to be used in the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e National Hurricane Center (2004). Tropical Cyclone Report: Tropical Storm Hermine. NOAA. Retrieved on March 18, 2006.
  2. ^ http://hurricane.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/2004/nov2004/'
  3. ^ http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/storm04.html
  4. ^ http://home.maine.rr.com/mailhot/netrop.html
  5. ^ http://home.maine.rr.com/mailhot/netrop.html
  6. ^ http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/storm04.html
Tropical cyclones of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season
H
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
TD TS 1 2 3 4 5