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Go North
Fri Jan 02, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
Hurricanes in the Atlantic tend to meander pole-ward as they mature, but this year they really
scooted. Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook.
Once again, the Atlantic served up an above average helping of 14 named storms and seven
hurricanes. The lesser Antilles got through its third year in a row without a hurricane, but
Bermuda wasn't so lucky. It got nailed by Fabian, the most destructive hurricane to hit this
tiny island in over 75 years. Even Nova Scotia got a piece of the action. Hurricane Juan
slammed into Halifax as one of Canada's strongest hurricanes ever with peak gusts of 109 miles
an hour.
The U.S. Gulf Coast got off easy this year but if you were up in the mid-Atlantic you saw
trees coming down, tides going up and the power going out, all due to Hurricane Isabel; but
despite her widespread damage and at least 30 related deaths, Isabel could have been far
worse. For three days she was at, or near, category 5 strength with top winds of 165 miles an
hour. Luckily, an influx of dry air helped bring Isabel down a few notches before she reached
the states. Still, Isabel pushed a record storm surge into Baltimore and other points on
Chesapeake Bay.
How unusual was Isabel? A British firm called tropicalstormrisk.com found that with her
strong winds and long duration, Isabel packed more energy than any other modern Atlantic
hurricane except for Donna in 1960.
And for a bizarre ending, December chimed in with two tropical storms, Odette and Peter. It's
the first time that's happened since 1887. Meteorologist Bob Henson contributed today's
story. The Weather Notebook is supported by Subaru of America and the National Science
Foundation.
Today's Links
More:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tlh/tropical/
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