HURRICANE SEASON OF 1998 IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC

«EARL»

August 31^st-September 3^rd

It developed in the afternoon of August 31^st in the Southwest of the Gulf of Mexico within a tropical wave coming from Africa. The storm kept its motion to the North-northeast until the afternoon of the 1^st when it bent to the Northeast still in intensification. In the morning of the 2^nd it became almost stationary to the East-Southeast and close to New Orleans, reaching the rank of hurricane. In the afternoon it headed Northeast again and its winds reached a speed of 160 km/h with a central pressure of 986 hPa so it was given a category of 2 in the Saffir-Simpson scale. In the evening it diminished something and finally it entered land by Panama City, Florida in the early hours of the 3^rd. It kept its motion over the Southeast of the United States with the same direction, where it degraded to tropical storm. Earl kept weakening over the eastern states of this country.

Earl was responsible of three deaths in the U. S. As well as 79 millions of dollars in damages. This hurricane characterized by a fast process of intensification despite being in a highly sheared environment. It showed an unusually sheared cloud pattern for its intensity and an improper wind field distribution for a tropical organism.

Hurricane Earl. September 2, 1998 (23:45 UTC)

«FRANCES»