Meteorological Analysis
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Michelle originated from a tropical wave which moved off the coast of Africa on
October 16th. The wave raised little suspicion as it crossed the Atlantic and
passed through the Lesser Antilles on the 23rd. The wave began to develop
convection upon reaching the Western Caribbean on the 26th and a broad low
formed under the convection near the Nicaraguan coast. The low then organized
enough to be considered a tropical depression on the 29th, between Puerto
Cabezas and Bluefields Nicaragua. Michelle then moved slowly over Nicaragua
for the next day and a half, while bringing severe rains to Central America.
The depression finally began to move NNE on the 31st and entered the
Caribbean. Once over water, the depression strengthened into tropical storm
Michelle on November 1st, about 50 nm north of Cabo Gracias. Michelle continued
to drift slowly north, and due to very favorable environmental conditions
became a hurricane on the 2nd. All the ingredients were there for rapid
intensification and Michelle quickly strengthened. Michelle reached winds of
140 mph by the 4th, after reaching a minimum central pressure of 933 mb.
Michelle had a very well defined eye and eye wall structure at this point. A
trough then caused Michelle to accelerate NE. Michelle crossed the islands off
of Cuba at maximum intensity and then made landfall in Cuba at the Bay of
Pigs on the 4th as a low end Cat 4. Michelle lost structure rapidly as it crossed
Cuba, partially due to heavy shear from an approaching trough. Michelle
emerged off of Cuba with 90 mph winds and didn't strengthen after that.
Michelle then moved over Andros and Eleuthera islands in the Bahamas as a
Cat 1 and lost tropical characteristics. Michelle became a powerful extratropical
system on the 6th and was absorbed by a front that day.
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Casualty and Damage Overview
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17 deaths are attributed to Michelle, with 6 in Honduras, 5 in Cuba, 4 in
Nicaragua, and 2 in Jamaica. Severe floods occurred in Central America from
Michelle's rains, the floods affected hundreds of thousands of people. Jamaica
and the Cayman Islands also experienced fresh water and surge flooding from
Michelle, with damage on Grand Cayman alone at $28 million. There were
also 2 tornadoes in Florida from Michelle causing $200 thousand in damage.
Cuba by far got hit the worst by Michelle, with widespread damage over a
large part of the country. 10 thousand homes are reported destroyed with
10 times that damaged. Agriculture also took a beating in Cuba. There is no
total damage figure available for Michelle.
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Michelle Hurricane Research Division Products
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Imagery
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Tracking Data
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Hurricane Michelle
Time Lat Lon Wind(mph) Pressure Storm type
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18 GMT 10/29/01 13.3N 83.6W 35 1004 Tropical Depression
0 GMT 10/30/01 13.7N 83.6W 35 1004 Tropical Depression
6 GMT 10/30/01 13.7N 84.1W 35 1005 Tropical Depression
12 GMT 10/30/01 13.3N 83.9W 35 1005 Tropical Depression
18 GMT 10/30/01 13.0N 83.5W 35 1006 Tropical Depression
0 GMT 10/31/01 13.7N 83.6W 35 1004 Tropical Depression
6 GMT 10/31/01 14.3N 83.4W 35 1005 Tropical Depression
12 GMT 10/31/01 14.8N 83.2W 35 1004 Tropical Depression
18 GMT 10/31/01 15.3N 83.1W 35 1004 Tropical Depression
0 GMT 11/01/01 15.8N 83.1W 40 1001 Tropical Storm
6 GMT 11/01/01 16.5N 83.4W 50 999 Tropical Storm
12 GMT 11/01/01 16.8N 83.6W 60 995 Tropical Storm
18 GMT 11/01/01 17.0N 83.8W 60 993 Tropical Storm
0 GMT 11/02/01 17.3N 83.9W 65 991 Tropical Storm
6 GMT 11/02/01 17.5N 83.9W 70 988 Tropical Storm
12 GMT 11/02/01 17.8N 84.0W 80 979 Category 1 Hurricane
18 GMT 11/02/01 18.0N 84.0W 90 969 Category 1 Hurricane
0 GMT 11/03/01 18.5N 84.0W 105 957 Category 2 Hurricane
6 GMT 11/03/01 18.8N 84.3W 120 942 Category 3 Hurricane
12 GMT 11/03/01 18.9N 84.3W 135 937 Category 4 Hurricane
18 GMT 11/03/01 19.3N 84.1W 125 934 Category 3 Hurricane
0 GMT 11/04/01 19.7N 83.7W 135 938 Category 4 Hurricane
6 GMT 11/04/01 20.1N 83.3W 140 944 Category 4 Hurricane
12 GMT 11/04/01 20.8N 82.5W 140 947 Category 4 Hurricane
18 GMT 11/04/01 21.5N 81.8W 140 949 Category 4 Hurricane
0 GMT 11/05/01 22.3N 80.9W 120 953 Category 3 Hurricane
6 GMT 11/05/01 23.1N 79.7W 90 972 Category 1 Hurricane
12 GMT 11/05/01 24.3N 78.0W 90 974 Category 1 Hurricane
18 GMT 11/05/01 25.4N 76.4W 85 980 Category 1 Hurricane
0 GMT 11/06/01 26.3N 74.5W 85 980 Extratropical Storm
6 GMT 11/06/01 26.9N 72.6W 85 980 Extratropical Storm
12 GMT 11/06/01 27.3N 69.7W 75 984 Extratropical Storm
18 GMT 11/06/01 28.7N 66.5W 65 989 Extratropical Storm
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Tracking maps courtesy of NHC
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Selected Hurricane Research Division Radar Image
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Selected Satellite Image
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