Meteorological history | |
---|---|
Formed | October 10,1988 |
Dissipated | November 2,1988 |
Category 4 major hurricane | |
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Highest winds | 145 mph (230 km/h) |
Lowest pressure | 932 mbar (hPa);27.52 inHg |
Overall effects | |
Fatalities | 216-337 total (all as Joan) |
Damage | $2 billion (1988 USD) |
Areas affected | Windward Islands,Aruba,Bonaire,Curaçao,Colombia,Venezuela,Costa Rica,Panama (as Joan),El Salvador,Guatemala,Mexico (as Miriam),Nicaragua (as both) |
IBTrACS | |
Part of the 1988 Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons |
Hurricane Joan was a long lived and powerful tropical cyclone that caused death and destruction in over a dozen countries in the Caribbean and Central America. Moving on a due west course for nearly two weeks in October 1988,Hurricane Joan caused widespread flooding and over 200 deaths after moving into Central America. Widespread suffering and economic crises were exacerbated by Joan,primarily across Nicaragua,as heavy rains and high winds impacted those near the hurricane's path.
After crossing Central America into the Pacific,the cyclone was renamed Tropical Storm Miriam,with the system's dissipation occurring southwest of Mexico. Joan–Miriam was the final hurricane of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season and the final named storm of the Pacific hurricane season. [1] [2] [3]
At the time, Joan was one of the latest tropical cyclones to form in the central Atlantic in any season. [4] It formed from an area of convection in the Intertropical Convergence Zone that moved off the coast of Africa early in October. It developed banding and was upgraded to Tropical Depression Seventeen on October 10 and later designated as Tropical Storm Joan while located at low latitude in the central Atlantic Ocean. [5]
Joan gradually strengthened as it passed over the southern Windward Islands on October 15. It continued heading west in response to a strong ridge, and passed over the Guajira Peninsula on October 17. [5] After entering the extreme southwestern Caribbean Sea, Joan strengthened into a hurricane. It then slowly executed a small counterclockwise loop, possibly in response to the nearby Tropical Depression Eighteen. [2] Upwelling caused by the quasi-stationary hurricane weakened the system. As the nearby depression dissipated, Joan resumed its westward track. A strong anticyclone over the southwestern Caribbean Sea created an extremely favorable environment, and Joan underwent rapid deepening at a rate of 38 millibars in the space of a day. [4] With a minimum pressure of 932 millibars, Joan was one of the strongest October hurricanes since 1961. [4] At the time, it was located at 12°N, the southernmost Category 4 hurricane ever recorded at the time. [5] That record has since been broken by Hurricane Ivan. [2] [6] [7]
Joan made landfall just south of Bluefields on October 22. [7] It passed over the northern portion of Lake Nicaragua, passed over Managua, and entered the Pacific Ocean near Leon on October 23. [2] Joan remained a hurricane or tropical storm during its entire passage over Central America, and was a minimal tropical storm when it reached the Pacific. [2] As per the policy at the time, Joan was renamed Miriam. [2]
Tropical Storm Miriam hugged the coast of Central America and reached its peak of 986 millibars on October 24. [8] Ordinarily, a pressure this low would indicate a Category 1 hurricane, but due to its disorganized convection, Miriam was not upgraded to a hurricane. [8] Land interaction and wind shear weakened Miriam to a tropical depression on October 26. Low-level winds carried the system out to sea, and its convection dissipated on October 28. [8]
Miriam's remnants continued out to sea, and they regenerated on October 30. The tropical depression hung on for the next few days, until its second, and final, dissipation on November 2. [9]
Hurricane Joan's path through the southern Caribbean in late October was highly unusual. Most October storms in the Atlantic gravitate towards the northern portion of the Caribbean, and often recurve quickly. [10] Joan took the southernmost path of an Atlantic-basin tropical cyclone in the Northern Hemisphere since a June system in 1933, although Hurricane Irene in 1971 took a path that was just north of Joan's. [5] Joan-Miriam was also unusual in that it survived the passage from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean. Only thirteen other storms have been known to survive the crossover between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. [11]
Tropical storm watches and later warnings were issued for the Windward Islands as far north as Martinique on October 13. They were dropped over the subsequent two days as Joan passed through. Along the coast of South America, additional warnings were raised and later dropped as Joan paralleled the coast. [12]
The first hurricane watches were issued for parts of Panama, and Providencia starting on October 18. The watch area was expanded to include Costa Rica and Nicaragua on October 19 as the watches were upgraded to warnings. These warnings provided several hours' worth of lead time, allowing evacuations and preparations to be made. [13] In addition, flash flood and mudslide warnings were issued for western Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua starting on October 21.
In response to Miriam, the flood and mudslide warnings issued because of Joan were not lifted until October 23 and 25. Tropical Storm warnings were issued for the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, El Salvador, and the Gulf of Fonseca on October 24. They were dropped the next day. Guatemala was placed under a warning on October 24. In addition, new flash flood and mudslide warnings were raised for Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas on October 24 and 25, respectively. All warnings and watches were discontinued later on October 25 as Miriam turned away from the coast. [14]
Despite the dangers from the intense hurricane, evacuations in Bluefields were met with resistance and disbelief from residents. [3] In Managua, 70,000 people were evacuated to safe areas. [2] In the remaining areas of Nicaragua, 300,000 people were evacuated. [15] In Costa Rica, a total of 55,000 people were evacuated. [16]
Impact by Country | ||
---|---|---|
Country | Deaths | Damage |
Nicaragua | 148-248 | $751.1 million |
Costa Rica | 28-46 | $60 million |
Colombia | 25 | $1 billion |
Venezuela | 11 | Unknown |
Panama | 7 | $60 million |
Total | 216-337 | $1.85 billion |
Hurricane Joan killed at least 216 people, with 118 unaccounted for. The total cost of damage was around $2 billion (1988 USD). [1] All of the deaths and most of the damage were due to the Joan portion of Hurricane Joan–Miriam. [9]
No casualties were reported in the Windward Islands, including Grenada, where, on October 15, Joan made landfall. [3] Passing just south, Joan brought rough seas and winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) with gusts to 55 mph (90 km/h) to the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao on October 16, damaging coastal facilities and roofs. Structural damage from the storm was estimated at $1.5 million (1988 USD). Increased moisture in Joan's wake caused persistent rainfall on the islands for several days, leading to widespread flooding. [17] In Trinidad and Tobago, Joan was described as a "minor inconvenience". [18] Sustained winds up to 51 mph (82 km/h) with gusts up to 64 mph (103 km/h) were recorded on Grenada. Heavy rains amounted to 6 in (150 mm) in St. George's. Significant flooding was reported throughout the island, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. [19] A rare invasion of African desert locusts in the Windward Islands were blamed on the storm. [20]
In Venezuela, 11 people were killed due to flash-flooding caused by heavy rains. Landslides and flooding killed 25 people in Colombia. The rains and flooding left 27,000 people homeless. [3] Throughout Colombia, damages amounted to $1 billion. [21]
Most of the destruction was in Nicaragua. Throughout the country, 148 people perished, 184 were badly hurt, and 100 were unaccounted for. Roughly 23,300 homes were destroyed, with 6,000 being damaged. [2] Many settlements on the Atlantic coast of the country were completely destroyed. [15] The national electric company had 620 miles (1,000 km) of downed power lines, at the cost of 2.5 million USD (1988 dollars). [22] A port being constructed with Bulgarian help at El Bluff was severely damaged. On a brighter note, public health measures managed to keep the death toll lower than it could have been. [15]
Bluefields was hit with extreme impact. Almost all of the 7,500 structures in the city were demolished [19] or had their roofs blown off. The majority of the main buildings in the city were destroyed. [2] The hurricane also wreaked havoc on agriculture in the country. Around 15,700 head of cattle, 20,000 pigs, and 456,000 chickens were killed. [2] The hurricane caused severe disruption in most of Nicaragua's remaining rain forests in the areas it hit, and also stripped trees of leaves. [23] In the southeast rain forests, Joan toppled or snapped 80 percent of the trees and completely destroyed 500,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres) of canopy. [24] Hurricane Joan caused transportation difficulties in the country. Floodwaters destroyed 30 bridges and seriously damaged 36 others. Roads totaling 404 miles (650 km) in length were washed away. [2]
In an unfortunate coincidence, Hurricane Joan hit shortly after an armed conflict in the region had started to cool off. The hurricane destroyed much of the infrastructure in Nicaragua, contributing to a recession that was already underway. The losses to cash crops severely reduced exports to under 200 million dollars (1988 USD). [22] These factors combined to aggravate a recession and deepen the economic crisis. Government spending to rebuild infrastructure negated recently introduced anti-inflation measures. Hurricane Joan was a partial cause of Nicaraguans being, on average, worse-off than they were in the 1970s. [25] In all, the storm left at least 250,000 people homeless. [26] Total damages in the country amounted to $751.1 million. [21] Joan was the first major hurricane to strike Nicaragua since Edith in 1971.
In Costa Rica, 28 people were killed, 75 were injured, and 18 were missing. Rainfall caused 20 rivers to burst their banks, flooding 75 settlements, including the city of Quepos, Costa Rica on the Pacific coast. At Ciudad Neily, Costa Rica, the Rio Corredores broke through a dike. In total, 7,500 Costa Ricans were rendered homeless. [3] Damages in Costa Rica amounted to $65 million. [27]
In the remaining portions of Central America, heavy rainfall, locally exceeding 300 millimetres (12 in), was reported. These rains caused flooding and landslides, especially in mountainous regions. [2] Those heavy rains caused seven deaths in Panama and left $60 million in damages. [28]
In Mexico, heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Miriam caused the cancellation of flights from the airport at Tuxtla Gutiérrez. The highest rainfall reported recorded was 10.37 inches (263 mm) at Lázaro Cárdenas. [29] In small settlements, rivers were flooded and mudslides were reported. Casualties from the flooding are not known. [9]
The response to requests for international aid was moderate. American church groups, Cuba, and Mexico collectively contributed around 2,500 tons of food and medicine. The Canadian, Swedish, West German, Spanish, and Dutch governments contributed aid amounting to 2 million dollars (1988) each. No aid was sent by the United States government. The Soviet Union contributed an unknown sum. [22] The slow response to requests for aid was contributed to by the Sandinista Government's actions, which was viewed by a few anonymous diplomats from other countries who commented to the press, as undermining the peace process championed by Óscar Arias. [22] Those actions were the July 10 arrests of opposition activists and the closing down of independent radio stations. [22] In addition, the government also barred foreign humanitarian groups from receiving American aid, as well as turning back a relief shipment days before the storm. [22]
On October 28, 1988, the United Nations General Assembly passed without a vote Resolution 17 of its 43rd session in response to the disaster. The resolution called on countries to contribute to the relief effort. [30]
On account of the deaths and destruction caused by the hurricane in the Atlantic basin, the name Joan was retired by the World Meteorological Organization in the spring of 1989. The name Miriam was not retired. [31] Joan was replaced with Joyce for the 1994 Atlantic hurricane season. [32]
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th parallel north in the northeast Pacific Ocean and the 31st parallel north in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The agency, which is co-located with the Miami branch of the National Weather Service, is situated on the campus of Florida International University in University Park, Miami, Florida.
Hurricane Mitch was the second-deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin on record. Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras and 3,800 in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding from the slow motion of the storm. It was the deadliest hurricane in Central American history, surpassing Hurricane Fifi–Orlene, which killed slightly fewer people in the same area in 1974. Mitch was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in the satellite era, and the second-deadliest on record in the Atlantic, only behind the Great Hurricane of 1780 which killed at least 22,000 people.
The 1988 Atlantic hurricane season was a near average season that proved costly and deadly, with 15 tropical cyclones directly affecting land. The season officially began on June 1, 1988, and lasted until November 30, 1988, although activity began on May 30 when a tropical depression developed in the Caribbean. The June through November dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. The first cyclone to attain tropical storm status was Alberto on August 8, nearly a month later than usual. The final storm of the year, Tropical Storm Keith, became extratropical on November 24. The season produced 19 tropical depressions of which 12 attained tropical storm status. One tropical storm was operationally classified as a tropical depression but was reclassified in post-analysis. Five tropical cyclones reached hurricane status of which three became major hurricanes reaching Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. It was later surpassed 34 years later until the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, to have Atlantic-Pacific crossover.
Hurricane Cesar–Douglas was one of the few tropical cyclones to survive the crossover from the Atlantic to east Pacific basin, and was the last to receive a new storm name upon doing so. Hurricane Cesar was the third named storm and second hurricane of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season. The system formed in the southern Caribbean Sea and affected several countries in South America before crossing Nicaragua and entering the Eastern Pacific where it was renamed Hurricane Douglas, the fourth named storm, third hurricane, and first and strongest major hurricane of the 1996 Pacific hurricane season. The storm killed 113 people in Central and South America and left 29 others missing, mainly due to flooding and mudslides.
The 1988 Pacific hurricane season was the least active Pacific hurricane season since 1981. It officially began May 15, in the eastern Pacific, and June 1, in the central Pacific and lasted until November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The first named storm, Tropical Storm Aletta, formed on June 16, and the last-named storm, Tropical Storm Miriam, was previously named Hurricane Joan in the Atlantic Ocean before crossing Central America and re-emerging in the eastern Pacific; Miriam continued westward and dissipated on November 2.
Hurricane Gert was a large tropical cyclone that caused extensive flooding and mudslides throughout Central America and Mexico in September 1993. The seventh named storm and third hurricane of the annual hurricane season, Gert originated as a tropical depression from a tropical wave over the southwestern Caribbean Sea on September 14. The next day, the cyclone briefly attained tropical storm strength before moving ashore in Nicaragua and proceeding through Honduras. It reorganized into a tropical storm over the Gulf of Honduras on September 17, but weakened back to a depression upon crossing the Yucatán Peninsula. Once over the warm waters of the Bay of Campeche, Gert quickly strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane by September 20. The hurricane made a final landfall on the Gulf Coast of Mexico near Tuxpan, Veracruz, with peak winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). The rugged terrain disrupted the cyclone's structure; Gert entered the Pacific Ocean as a depression near the state of Nayarit on September 21, where it briefly redeveloped a few strong thunderstorms before dissipating at sea five days later.
Hurricane Debby was the first hurricane to strike the Mexican state of Veracruz since Hurricane Anna in 1956. The eighth tropical cyclone, fourth named storm, and the first hurricane of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season, Debby developed from a tropical wave off the west coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on August 31. The system slowly intensified as it tracked west-northwestward toward Mexico, eventually reaching tropical storm status on September 2. Thereafter, Debby began to rapidly strengthen, and the storm was upgraded to a hurricane later that day. After attaining peak winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), Debby made landfall near Tuxpan, Veracruz early on September 3. The hurricane quickly weakened inland, but managed to reach the eastern Pacific on September 5. Debby became Tropical Depression Seventeen-E, which moved northwest but remained poorly organized due to wind shear and dissipated on September 8.
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Tropical Storm Alma was the easternmost forming Pacific tropical cyclone on record. It formed within the monsoon trough just off the coast of Costa Rica on May 29. Initially forecast to remain a weak tropical storm, the cyclone rapidly strengthened and developed an eye, before making landfall on May 29 in Nicaragua, near León, with peak winds of 65 mph (105 km/h). Alma degenerated into a remnant low on May 30, before merging with another approaching tropical wave in the Gulf of Honduras shortly afterward, which became Tropical Storm Arthur on the next day. Alma was the first tropical storm on record to strike the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. In Costa Rica, heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides, killing two and causing $35 million (USD) in damage. Three people were killed in Nicaragua, one from drowning and two others from electrocution. Five others died in Honduras from an aviation accident likely related to the storm and one other was swept away in floodwaters.
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Hurricane Nate was an Atlantic hurricane which was the costliest natural disaster in Costa Rican history. An unusually fast-moving tropical cyclone, it caused severe flooding in Central America, leading to widespread destruction and casualties, during early October 2017, before making landfall on the US Gulf Coast. The fourteenth named storm and ninth hurricane of the extremely active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Nate originated from a broad area of low pressure over the southwestern Caribbean on October 3. The disturbance moved northwest, organizing into a tropical depression the next day and attaining tropical storm intensity early on October 5. The storm made landfall in Nicaragua that same day and continued into Honduras with little change in strength. Nate began steady intensification over the warm waters of the northwestern Caribbean Sea shortly thereafter. It attained hurricane strength while moving through the Yucatán Channel early on October 7, attaining peak winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) in the central Gulf of Mexico later that day. Early on the next day, Nate made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. After crossing the marshland of the Mississippi Delta, it made its second U.S. landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi early on October 8, causing a storm surge to flood the ground floors of coastal casinos and buildings, as well as causing rip currents, hurricane-force winds, and beach erosion.
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Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers. Hurricanes are uncommon in the country, as only eighteen have been recorded in history.
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