MIAMI- The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended yesterday with the Caribbean recording 20 deaths from storms during the six-month period that the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) described as one of the busiest on record since the satellite era began.
Most of the deaths in the Caribbean were recorded in St. Lucia, Jamaica and Haiti and were caused by Hurricane Tomas and Tropical Storm Nicole during the later part of the hurricane season.
In addition, these storms caused millions of dollars in damage both St. Lucia and Jamaica putting their combined total at over one billion (US) dollars.
The NOAA said that there 19 named storms in 2010, the same as in the years 1887 and 1985. It said of the 19 storms, the third highest on record, 12 became hurricanes with five of them reaching Category Three or higher status.
“Large-scale climate features strongly influenced this year’s hurricane activity, as they often do. This year, record warm Atlantic waters, combined with the favourable winds coming off Africa and weak wind shear aided by La Niña energized developing storms. The 2010 season continues the string of active hurricane seasons that began in 1995,” the NOAA said in a statement..
NOAA said that its forecasters had accurately predicted that the Atlantic hurricane season would have been one of the most active on record and according to Dr. Jack Hayes, the director of NOAA’s National Weather Service “though fortunately most storms avoided the U.S, you could say the season was a gentle giant”.
However, for the Caribbean and other areas, Hurricane Tomas brought heavy rain to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and several storms, including Alex, battered eastern Mexico and Central America with heavy rain, mudslides and deadly flooding.
“Though La Niña helped to enhance the Atlantic hurricane season, it also suppressed storms from forming and strengthening in the eastern North Pacific. Of that region’s seven named storms this year, three grew into hurricanes and two of those became major hurricanes,” the NOAA said. (CMC)
