Meteorological Analysis
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Hanna had a complex origin. The first factor that led to tropical cyclogenesis
was a surface trough extending from Hurricane Gustav. This trough stretched
from the Atlantic, through Florida, and into the central Gulf of Mexico. A
tropical wave approached this trough from the east, and when the wave
interacted with the trough on September 10th a 1008 mb surface low pressure
system formed along the surface trough. Convection was initially lacking but,
a trough cut off and became an upper low over the Gulf of Mexico, sparking
convection over the surface low. The convection continued to organize and by
September 12th the surface low became a tropical depression, about 250 nm
south of Pensacola, Florida. The depression had some non-tropical
characteristics initially due to its proximity to the upper low, and shear was
also high over the depression. The depression managed to become tropical
storm Hanna nonetheless on September 12th, about 225 nm south of
Pensacola, Florida. Hanna then began to move north due to an approaching
trough. Hanna continued to strengthen at this time and reached its max winds
of 60 mph on the 14th, a mere 40 nm south of the Mississippi delta.
Shear continued to affect Hanna, and displaced the worst weather to the east
of the center, with most of it affecting Florida. Hanna made landfall on the 14th
in southeastern Louisiana. Hanna maintained its winds of 60 mph across the
Louisiana swamps and made a second landfall on the Alabama/Mississippi
border. Hanna then continued NE across Alabama, and due to heavy shear
combined with land Hanna dissipated on the 15th. Hanna's remnants brought
flooding rains up part of the east coast afterwards.
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Casualty and Damage Overview
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Hanna caused three deaths, all drowning deaths due to riptides off of the
Florida Panhandle. There was minor surge damage along the north Gulf of
Mexico coast due to Hanna. Most of the damage due to Hanna occurred in
Georgia from fresh water flooding, with agriculture taking the brunt of the loss.
Total damage from Hanna is estimated to be $20 million.
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Hanna Hurricane Research Division Products
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Imagery
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Tracking Data
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Tropical Storm Hanna
Time Lat Lon Wind(mph) Pressure Storm type
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0 GMT 09/12/02 26.3N 86.6W 35 1001 Tropical Depression
6 GMT 09/12/02 26.7N 86.4W 40 1001 Tropical Storm
12 GMT 09/12/02 27.0N 86.7W 40 1001 Tropical Storm
18 GMT 09/12/02 27.1N 87.5W 40 1001 Tropical Storm
0 GMT 09/13/02 26.7N 88.0W 40 1001 Tropical Storm
6 GMT 09/13/02 26.9N 88.8W 45 1002 Tropical Storm
12 GMT 09/13/02 27.4N 89.3W 50 1002 Tropical Storm
18 GMT 09/13/02 27.7N 89.3W 50 1003 Tropical Storm
0 GMT 09/14/02 28.0N 89.2W 60 1001 Tropical Storm
6 GMT 09/14/02 28.7N 89.1W 60 1003 Tropical Storm
12 GMT 09/14/02 30.0N 88.8W 60 1003 Tropical Storm
18 GMT 09/14/02 30.8N 88.0W 35 1005 Tropical Depression
0 GMT 09/15/02 31.5N 87.0W 25 1009 Tropical Depression
6 GMT 09/15/02 32.0N 86.0W 25 1011 Tropical Depression
12 GMT 09/15/02 33.0N 85.0W 25 1014 Tropical Depression
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Tracking maps courtesy of NHC
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Selected Satellite Image
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Selected Hurricane Research Division Radar Image
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