This is the Hurricane Warning
archive of hurricane Mitch.
The best data available was used
to create this archive, in order to
make it as educational as possible.
Meteorological Analysis
Mitch originated from a tropical wave which moved off the coast of Africa on
October 10th. The wave then crossed the Atlantic under the subtropical ridge
while raising little suspicion. As the wave entered the Caribbean on the 18th,
organization began to improve. By the 21st the wave was upgraded to a tropical
depression, about 360 nm S of Kingston, Jamaica. The depression then
strengthened into tropical storm Mitch later that day, about 225 nm ESE of
San Andres Island. Mitch encountered shear on the 23rd as it moved erratically
but, continued to strengthen and became a hurricane on the 24th. Mitch began
to move northward at this time as well as a nearby upper low weakened. Later
on the 24th Mitch turned west under a ridge and began to rapidly intensify
under very favorable environmental conditions. Mitch then reached its maximum
intensity of 180 mph with a pressure of 905 mb, about 50 nm SE of Swan
Island. Mitch was truly an incredible hurricane, the strongest October hurricane
on record in fact. Mitch passed over Swan Island on the 27th with this incredible
intensity, and then turned south as steering currents weakened. Mitch then
slowly crawled over the Bay Islands and the island of Guanaja through the 29th.
Mitch weakened at this time due to its proximity to Honduras. Mitch then made
landfall in Honduras with winds of 100 mph on the 29th. Mitch continued to
weaken over land as it dumped catastrophic rains, and was downgraded to a
tropical depression by the 31st. Mitch's surface reflection dissipated on
November 1st but, the mid and upper level components of Mitch continued
across Mexico. The remnants of Mitch then emerged into the Bay of Campeche
on the 2nd and began to reorganize. By the 3rd the low level circulation of
Mitch reformed and Mitch became a tropical storm again. Mitch made landfall
that day on the Yucatan as it accelerated NE from a trough, and weakened into
a depression by the 4th. Mitch re emerged into the Gulf of Mexico later on the
4th and regained tropical storm status. Mitch strengthened somewhat over the
warm waters of the loop current, and made landfall on the 5th in Naples, Florida
with winds of 65 mph. Mitch emerged into the Atlantic later on the 5th and
became extratropical off of Florida. Extratropical Mitch was traceable until the
9th, when it merged with another low over the Atlantic.
Casualty and Damage Overview
9,086 deaths are attributed to Mitch, a shocking number for modern times.
5,677 of these deaths were in Honduras, with 2,863 in Nicaragua, 258 in
Guatemala, 239 in El Salvador, 9 in Mexico, 7 in Costa Rica, and 2 in Florida. Mitch is tied in second for the deadliest hurricane in Atlantic history. There was
extensive damage from Mitch across Central America, with Honduras taking the
brunt. Also, a tornado outbreak in Florida from Mitch destroyed 645 homes,
leading to a total U.S. damage estimate of $20 million. There are no damage
estimates available from Central America.
