What happened after Andrew?

[sunnyday]

As we all remember, nothing happened until late August the year Hurricane Andrew hit So. Fla. Can someone please remind me how the remainder of the storm season went after Andrew?
Thank you!

[StormScanWx]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Atlan ... ane_season

That may help.

[sunnyday]

Yes, it does. Thanks so much.

[brunota2003]

They didn't update Andrew when it was upgraded, but this also might help: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/at1992.asp

[Derek Ortt]

Also, on 9/11 (yes, that same beloved date that seems to cause the USA major problems), Kauai was hit by a category 4 hurricane, basically leveling the island.

1992 was the only season that I know of where we were hit by a cat 3, 4, and 5 (maybe 1928 with the 5 being at PR)

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

I know what happened after Andrew in South Florida; Chaos and Suffering. Thank God I was able to get out in about three weeks, as I was just a visitor staying with family before it happened (who came back to my house with me afterwards, we wouldn't leave 'em in that hell for sure). My heart goes out to the residents that had to live in that hell for months on end.

[wxmann_91]

TC Season worldwide - most active season on record.

Atlantic hurricane season - very quiet.

[Normandy]

One of those websites said Iniki produced a 227 mph wind gust?

[Aslkahuna]

1992 was also when Southeastern Arizona was hit by a Tropical Storm packing wind gusts up to 78 mph. Tropical Storm (ex-EPAC Hurricane) Lester entered the US east of Nogales AZ at 10:30 PM on the night of August 23, 1992 or 4 hours before Andrew made landfall in FL becoming the first named storm of 1992 to directly affect the US. The 24/0600Z Surface Analysis was unique in that it showed a Tropical Storm over Arizona and a Hurricane just offshore FL.

Steve

[recmod]

1992 was the only season that I know of where we were hit by a cat 3, 4, and 5 (maybe 1928 with the 5 being at PR)

What is the Cat 3 from 1992 you are referring to? My memory seems to recall some intense typhoon striking Guam that year...is this what you are referring to?

--Lou

[Aslkahuna]

Typhoon Omar whacked Guam in August 1992 and crossed the island with 110 kt sustained winds (125 mph) recorded gusts were in the high 130 kt range-almost 140 kt. That year (1992) is probably one of a very few years where named storms from all 4 Basins that NWS forecasts in (ATL/EPAC/CENPAC/WPAC (Guam, Marianas, Marshalls) hit US Territory.

Steve

[AussieMark]

Steve what kind of setup developed that allowed Iniki to do what it did?

[Aslkahuna]

A fairly intense El Niño. During ENSO warm phase events the usually hostile environment present in CENPAC is gone and the region becomes active. During the very strong warm event of 1982-83, we had Hurricane Iwa in November of 1982 that was the strongest to ever hit HI until Iniki (and in almost the same place). Iwa went on to became an intense ET low that hit CA with hurricane force winds as far south as the SFO Bay Area. In 1994, John came in from EPAC as a 100kt hurricane and while south of HI became the strongest storm ever in CENPAC and then entered WPAC to become a typhoon before recurving back into CENPAC. John became the longest lived Tropical system on record. Typhoon Paka which slammed Guam in 1997 began as a storm SW of Hawaii while STY Oliwa was another CENPAC storm turned typhoon.

Steve

[weatherwindow]

Steve what kind of setup developed that allowed Iniki to do what it did?

....briefly stated, the setup that precipitated iniki's landfall as a cat 3/4 was the intrusion of an unseasonably deep mid-latitude trough into the deep tropics in the vicinity of the international dateline. as iniki moved wnw along 12-14deg N latitude south of north pacific ridge, the digging trough eroded the western edge of the ridge. as it did, the steering currents shifted from ese to ssw. iniki was, in turn, accelerated to the nne. this allowed iniki to both maintain cat 3/4 intensity over marginal ssts north of 18 degN and track over kaui......rich

[Derek Ortt]

Andrew was the cat 3. It struck Louisiana as a cat 3

[vbhoutex]

Steve what kind of setup developed that allowed Iniki to do what it did?

....briefly stated, the setup that precipitated iniki's landfall as a cat 3/4 was the intrusion of an unseasonably deep mid-latitude trough into the deep tropics in the vicinity of the international dateline. as iniki moved wnw along 12-14deg N latitude south of north pacific ridge, the digging trough eroded the western edge of the ridge. as it did, the steering currents shifted from ese to ssw. iniki was, in turn, accelerated to the nne. this allowed iniki to both maintain cat 3/4 intensity over marginal ssts north of 18 degN and track over kaui......rich

Thanks Rich. Now I have another question answered. I often wondered how Iniki happened and of course didn't ever think of the obvious reason.

[Aslkahuna]

The upper air pattern steering Iniki was a consequence of the atmospheric changes associated with the development of the ENSO warm phase event. There was another atmospheric factor that was also operative and that was the overspreading stratospheric haze from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo a year earlier. Normally CENPAC doesn't see much development and most of the activity comes from weakening EPAC storms that enter the region. However, during ENSO warm phase events the patterns change and there's actual development in CENPAC. Most of those systems then end up in WPAC but on occasion like with Iwa and Iniki the pattern develops that allows a storm to track up towards HI.

Steve