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Hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean:

Hurricane Hanna
Table of Contents:

Introduction page: 3
Hurricane Hanna:
• Arise of Hanna page: 4
• Wind history page: 5
• Rainfall page: 10
• Landfall page: 16
• Damage page: 17
Appendix page: 19
Sources page: 20

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Introduction:

Hurricane Hanna has only been a hurricane for a few hours. But as a tropical storm Hanna has
done a lot of damage to the Caribbean area and the United States. In this summary I am going
to tell you something more about this and about the rise of Hanna in the Atlantic Ocean and of
course I am going to tell you something about the landfall in the United States.

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Arise of Hanna:
Hanna arose from a tropical wave that entered the Atlantic Ocean. This wave came into
development when it met a low pressure area. Together they firmed a new area that could
develop into a tropical storm. A few days after the development the formation was complete
and a new tropical depression was born.
Further away on the Atlantic Ocean, the new tropical depression grew into a tropical storm
Hanna which was very special, because at that moment Gustav was also developing but then
in the Caribbean Sea and also 2 other low pressure systems were estimated to become new
tropical depression soon. So there were 5 storm systems on 1 day!
After 4 days Hanna became a category 1 Hurricane. But she weakened after a day into a
strong tropical storm.

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Wind history:

This table shows the wind history of hurricane Hanna. The highest wind speed that Hanna had
was 75 knots per hour. That is an amount of 138.9 km per hour.
Date/Time Latitude Longitude Pressure Wind Speed
Category
(North) (West) (mbar) (knots)
Tropical
28 / 0000 19.4 57.3 1007 30
Depression
Tropical
28 / 0600 19.7 57.8 1004 30
Depression
Tropical
28 / 1200 20.1 58.6 1003 35
Storm
Tropical
28 / 1800 20.5 59.6 1003 35
Storm
Tropical
29 / 0000 20.8 60.5 1001 40
Storm
Tropical
29 / 0600 20.9 61.5 1000 45
Storm
Tropical
29 / 1200 21.1 62.4 1000 45
Storm
Tropical
29 / 1800 21.5 63.4 1000 45
Storm
Tropical
30 / 0000 21.7 64.5 1000 45
Storm
Tropical
30 / 0600 21.8 65.5 1000 45
Storm
Tropical
30 / 1200 21.9 66.2 1000 45
Storm
Tropical
30 / 1800 22.2 66.9 1000 45
Storm
Tropical
31 / 0000 22.6 67.5 999 50
Storm
Tropical
31 / 0600 23.1 68.5 999 45
Storm
Tropical
31 / 1200 23.5 69.8 999 40
Storm
Tropical
31 / 1800 23.6 71.0 997 40
Storm
Tropical
01 / 0000 23.5 71.7 997 45
Storm
Tropical
01 / 0600 23.2 72.0 996 50
Storm
Tropical
01 / 1200 22.8 72.2 990 60
Storm
Hurricane
01 / 1800 22.3 72.4 985 70
Category 1
Hurricane
02 / 0000 21.8 72.3 977 75
Category 1

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Date/Time Latitude Longitude Pressure Wind Speed Category
(North) (West) (mbar) (knots)
Hurricane
02 / 0600 21.4 72.7 980 65
Category 1
Tropical
02 / 1200 21.0 73.0 983 60
Storm
Tropical
02 / 1800 20.6 72.9 985 55
Storm
Tropical
03 / 0000 20.4 72.6 988 55
Storm
Tropical
03 / 0600 20.2 72.4 991 50
Storm
Tropical
03 / 1200 20.6 71.9 996 45
Storm
Tropical
03 / 1800 21.6 71.8 994 50
Storm
Tropical
04 / 0000 22.7 71.8 989 55
Storm
Tropical
04 / 0600 23.4 72.4 990 60
Storm
Tropical
04 / 1200 24.1 73.2 989 55
Storm
Tropical
04 / 1800 25.1 74.3 989 55
Storm
Tropical
05 / 0000 26.1 75.8 987 55
Storm
Tropical
05 / 0600 27.2 77.3 984 55
Storm
Tropical
05 / 1200 28.2 78.5 980 55
Storm
Tropical
05 / 1800 29.9 78.7 980 60
Storm
Tropical
06 / 0000 31.5 79.3 980 60
Storm
Tropical
06 / 0600 33.4 78.8 981 60
Storm
Tropical
06 / 1200 35.7 78.1 985 45
Storm
Tropical
06 / 1800 37.8 76.7 993 45
Storm
Tropical
07 / 0000 40.0 74.5 994 45
Storm
Extra
07 / 0600 41.9 71.7 995 45
Tropical
Extra
07 / 1200 43.8 68.0 995 45
Tropical
Extra
07 / 1800 45.7 63.7 995 45
Tropical

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Date/Time Latitude Longitude Pressure Wind Speed Category
08 / 0000 47.0
(North) 59.1
(West) 996
(mbar) 40
(knots) Extra
Tropical
Extra
08 / 0600 47.5 55.4 996 40
Tropical
Extra
08 / 1200 47.8 52.1 996 35
Tropical
merged with
08 / 1800
front

The colours in the table match the colours in the picture here below.

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This picture shows the wind speed of tropical storm Hanna, just for the coast of Florida
(United States). The lines represent the wind direction and the colours represent the strength
of the wind. The purple colours are the strongest wind gust. They are over 50 knots per hour.
That is an amount over 94 kilometres per hour. As you can see, the wind is turning around the
purple spot in the centre of the picture. This causes floods on the coast of east America.

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Also during the storms there was wind speed information of buoys and ships. This table here
below shows the data of the ships and buoys.

Ship/Buoy Latitude Longitude Wind speed Pressure


Date/Time (knots)
(North) (West) (mbar)
01/1500 WDB325 20.3 71.9 38 1005.1
01/1900 KCGH 20.7 73.3 38 1011.0
03/1700 KCGH 19.7 69.7 38 998.0
04/0900 WJBJ 26.9 72.0 44 1001.0
04/1200 VQBW2 28.0 70.3 35 1006.5
04/1600 WJBJ 25.9 70.5 36 1003.2
04/1800 WJBJ 25.3 70.2 37 1004.3
04/1900 KIRH 24.1 74.8 37 995.3
05/0000 KIRH 25.1 75.7 52 991.9
05/0400 C6PT7 26.4 79.0 35 1000.0
05/0600 KIRH 25.7 77.2 37 996.0
05/0600 C6TZ8 27.6 80.0 42 1010.0
05/1000 C6FM8 26.2 79.9 43 1009.0
05/1800 WFKW 29.9 80.6 40 999.2
05/1800 WNDP 34.0 76.2 36 1009.0
06/1500 WPKD 33.3 74.7 40 1010.0
06/1800 WPKD 33.0 75.5 37 1010.0
06/1800 WNDP 36.1 75.0 36 1005.5
06/1800 WPGK 36.9 72.2 37 1010.0
06/2100 DGAF 38.2 74.3 43 996.5
06/2100 WMVF 38.6 74.9 40 996.8
07/0000 A8IY6 38.1 73.0 45 1003.0
07/0000 C6FT7 41.1 71.4 39 1004.0

As you see here in the table is that the wind speed is very different per ship or buoy. The
highest measure was on 5 September with a wind speed of 52 knots per hour. That is an
amount of 97 kilometres per hour. The pressure was also the lowest with an amount of 991.9
milli-bar.

There were more reports of ships and buoys but this table only shows the wind speed of 35
knots and more.

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Rainfall:

Hanna has caused a lot of damage by her rainfall. Here in the tables below I will show you the
rainfall per country or state.

Bahama’s:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Inagua Island (Pump 1) 1.43
Inagua Island (Pump 3) 2.54
Inagua Island (Pump 4) 1.77
Inagua Island (Y-2) 2.48
Inagua Island (Great Hill) 2.12
Inagua Island (P. Point) 1.80
Inagua Island (Y. House) 2.12
Inagua Island (N. Dam) 2.07

As we see here is that the Bahamas hadn’t got very much rain to process. But when Hanna hit
the Bahamas she was weakened into a tropical Storm.

Puerto Rico:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Adjuntas 16.19
Saltillo 14.43
Rio Icacos 12.45
Quebrada 11.19
Rio Mameyes 11.13
Barrio Apeadero 10.02
Sabana Grande 9.76
El Portal 9.55
Rio Tanama 9.08
Rio Bauta 7.20
Rio Guanajibo 5.69
Rio Grande De Loiza San Lorenzo 5.24

Puerto Rico was hardly damaged by the rainfall of Hanna. But some places didn’t have much
rainfall. The heavy rainfall was local. You can see that in the picture on the next page.

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As you can see here, there is a lot of difference on this island. We can now say that the rainfall
was very local, and that Hurricane Hanna had several rain walls that hit Puerto Rico.

On the picture here below it is shown where the measuring of the table on the previously page
took place. If you look at the data, the picture here above and the picture of the measuring,
you can see that they perfectly match the rainfall data!

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Dominican Republic:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Oviedo 14.17
Pednernales 10.79
Polo 8.99
San Jose Ocoa 8.78
Las Americas 8.54
Villa Vasquez 8.02
Los Llanos 7.97
Hato Mayor 7.65
La Descubierta 7.57
Bani 7.51
La Romana 6.84
Monte Plata 6.78
Punta Cana 6.53
Bayaguana 6.42
Aerop. Joaquin B. 6.10

Picture of Hurricane
Gustav (on the left) and
tropical storm Hanna (on the right), heading for Puerto Rico.

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United States:
(According to National Hurricane Center)

South Carolina:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Florence Regional Airport 4.53
Myrtle Beach Grandstand 4.28
Charleston International Airport 3.54

North Carolina:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Raleigh Durham International Airport 4.77
Fayetteville Regional Airport/Grannis Field 4.62
Beaufort Airport 1.08
New Bern 0.81
Frisco Airport 1.04
Jacksonville Airport 1.32
Lumberton 4.60

Virgina:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Reagan National Airport 3.90
Warrenton Airport 2.89
Wakefield Airport 2.34
Fort Belvoir 5.96
Leesburg 5.23

Maryland:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Baltimore/Washington International Airport 1.72
Washington Dulles Airport 5.42
Andrews AFB 2.26
U.S. Naval Academy 1.89
Patuxent River NAS 1.70
St. Inigoes 1.97

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Delaware:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Georgetown/Sussex 2.07
Dover 1.25
Wilmington 3.32

New Jersey:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Newark International Airport 3.75
Atlantic City 2.89
Teterboro 4.10

New York:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Newburg 2.86
Laguardia Airport 3.29
New York Kennedy Airport 2.89
Central Park 3.54
White Plains 4.42

Connecticut:
Location: Total rainfall
(place of measuring) (inches)
Hartford/Brainard 4.55
Bridgeport/Sikorski 2.90
Groton 2.76
New Haven 3.31
Meriden 3.89

As you can see on the next page, the whole east coast was threatened by tropical storm Hanna.
The rainfall she caused wasn’t as heavy as in Puerto Rico, but there were floods caused by the
rainfall and the storm itself.

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Landfall:
Hanna made landfall to South Carolina. The other countries as Puerto Rico and the Bahamas
where only hit by Hanna but Hanna never made a landfall (the eye wall never came ashore).
But after Hanna left the United States, she headed to Canada, where she came ashore as an
extra tropical storm.

Hanna came ashore in


the United States as a
tropical Storm. She
caused a lot of
damage, a lot of
rainfall and of course
floods. The whole
west coast was
damaged by her. But
on the other side in
the south of United
States, they had to
deal with Gustav.
Gustav was a major
hurricane who came
ashore in Texas. So
there were 2 low
pressure systems
coming ashore in the
same week.

Moreover, as a
hurricane Hanna
caused a lot of trouble
in Puerto Rico. She
was at peak of
intensity at that
moment when she
reached Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Hanna heading for the Bahamas

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Damage:

West Atlantic Area:


The West Atlantic islands were very much damaged by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna.
Hanna was the deadliest storm since Hurricane Stan in 2005. The total of deaths reported was
estimated to be 530 people! Most damage was caused by the floods and the heavy rainfall that
Hanna caused, also the strong wind caused a lot of damage in the area.
Following the government of Haiti who described the damage as catastrophic, it is an answer
to the amount of reported deaths. The people in the West Atlantic islands are poor and don’t
have good houses to live in, so there is always more damage than in the United States with the
same storm power.

Damage by Hanna in Haiti

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United States:

The day that Hanna crossed


over to the border of Canada
there were some storm
reports in the neighbourhood
of that area. If you look at the
north east you see a lot of
blue spots in that area. These
represent the high wind
reports of more than 65 knots
per hour. That is an amount
of 122 kilometres per hour.
But these are wind gusts! So
if you look at the wind table
in the chapter of wind history,
these numbers are the normal
wind speed. Wind gusts are
most of the time stronger.

Also Hanna caused for 1 EF1 tornado, who damage a lot of houses. The heavy rainfall caused
a lot of trouble in the United States as well. It caused floods on the whole east coast and also
some rivers were to flood.
Moreover Hanna caused a large
blackout that knocked out 32
thousand people from
electricity.

7 People drowned during the


impact of Tropical Storm
Hanna.

The total costs of the impact of


Hanna were estimated to an
amount of 160 million US
dollars. This also included the
damage that Hanna caused in
Haiti, Puerto Rico, Bahamas and the Dominican Republic!

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Appendix:

Hanna was a weak hurricane but a very strong tropical storm. She caused a lot of trouble in
the West Atlantic. Moreover, Hanna was the deadliest tropical storm this season. I think that
the name Hanna is going to retire this season. This means that the name Hanna is never going
to be used again for a hurricane name, because the storm was too heavy/deadly.

For more information about hurricane Hanna or about this season, please take a look at the
following websites:
• http://www.youtube.com/pojecthurricane
• http://ubbo-hurricaneseason2008.blogspot.com

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Sources:

http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2008249-0905/Hanna.A2008249.1840.2km.jpg
http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/members/images/112467.jpg
http://weblogs.sun-
sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/blog/FireShot%20capture%20%23266%20-
%20'National%20Hurricane%20Center'%20-%20www_nhc_noaa_gov.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/272006main_hannaquikscat2_20080905_HI.jpg
http://www.foxnews.com/images/426381/1_61_082808_storm_320.jpg
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2008245-0901/Hanna.A2008245.1550.1km.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/270930main_GustavandHanna_HI.jpg
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080906_rpts.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hanna_Damage_Durham.jpg
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dt7dEv1O82I6/610x.jpg

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