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Tropical Storm Beatriz (2005)
Encyclopedia
Tropical Storm Beatriz was the second named storm
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
of the 2005 Pacific hurricane season
2005 Pacific hurricane season
The 2005 Pacific hurricane season officially began on May 15, 2005 in the eastern Pacific and on June 1, 2005 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 2005. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean...
. The precursor to Beatriz was a tropical wave
Tropical wave
Tropical waves, easterly waves, or tropical easterly waves, also known as African easterly waves in the Atlantic region, are a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which move from east to west across the tropics causing areas of...
which formed off the east coast of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
on June 8. The wave traversed the tropical Atlantic ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
for more than a week before entering the Pacific basin
Pacific hurricane
A Pacific hurricane or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that develops in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. For organizational purposes, the northern Pacific Ocean is divided into three regions: the eastern, , central , and western...
on June 17. The wave gradually developed over the next several days and was determined to have become a tropical depression. The storm was given the number Two-E on June 21 while located 385 mi (620 km) south of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Further organization took place and the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Beatriz early the next morning. Beatriz gradually reached its peak intensity on the afternoon of June 22 with winds peaking at 50 mph (85 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 1000 mbar
Bar (unit)
The bar is a unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Other units derived from the bar are the megabar , kilobar , decibar , centibar , and millibar...
(hPa
Pascal (unit)
The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus and tensile strength, named after the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It is a measure of force per unit area, defined as one newton per square metre...
; 29.54 inHg
Inch of mercury
Inches of mercury, ' is a unit of measurement for pressure. It is still widely used for barometric pressure in weather reports, refrigeration and aviation in the United States, but is seldom used elsewhere....
). After peaking, easterly wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
caused the storm to become disorganized and weaken. Beatriz was downgraded to a tropical depression on June 23 and was declared a remnant low the next morning. The remnant low lingered for two more days before dissipating on June 26.
Meteorological history
Tropical Storm Beatriz formed out of a tropical waveTropical wave
Tropical waves, easterly waves, or tropical easterly waves, also known as African easterly waves in the Atlantic region, are a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which move from east to west across the tropics causing areas of...
which emerged off the western coast of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, near Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
and the Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
Islands, on June 8. The wave remained poorly organized as it traversed the Atlantic basin before entering the Pacific basin
Pacific hurricane
A Pacific hurricane or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that develops in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. For organizational purposes, the northern Pacific Ocean is divided into three regions: the eastern, , central , and western...
on June 17. Ahead of the wave, over southern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, a broad area of low pressure
Low pressure area
A low-pressure area, or "low", is a region where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is below that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence which occur in upper levels of the troposphere. The formation process of a low-pressure area is known as...
had developed several embedded disturbances. One of the disturbances drifted southward and interacted with the westward bound wave. By June 20, the weak disturbance was absorbed into the tropical wave and the organization of the system increased. By the afternoon of June 21, it was determined that the wave had developed sufficient organization to be declared Tropical Depression Two-E while located 385 mi (620 km) south of Zihuatanejo
Zihuatanejo
Zihuatanejo or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Politically the city belongs to the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta in the western part of Guerrero, but both are commonly referred to as Zihuatanejo...
. A large mid-level trough
Trough (meteorology)
A trough is an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure, often associated with fronts.Unlike fronts, there is not a universal symbol for a trough on a weather chart. The weather charts in some countries or regions mark troughs by a line. In the United States, a trough may be marked...
located over the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
influenced the trajectory of Beatriz, causing it to travel towards the west-northwest. The overall organization of the depression was elongated, preventing quick intensification. However, the convection around the storm became better organized and by the morning of June 22 it was declared Tropical Storm Beatriz.
Further development was unlikely as easterly wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
was causing the convection around the storm to become disorganized and water temperatures were not warm enough to support a large increase in intensity. Beatriz managed to produce modest amounts of convection and after a burst of deep convection during the afternoon, Beatriz reached its peak intensity with winds peaking at 50 mph (85 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 1000 mbar
Bar (unit)
The bar is a unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Other units derived from the bar are the megabar , kilobar , decibar , centibar , and millibar...
(hPa
Pascal (unit)
The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus and tensile strength, named after the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It is a measure of force per unit area, defined as one newton per square metre...
; 29.54 inHg
Inch of mercury
Inches of mercury, ' is a unit of measurement for pressure. It is still widely used for barometric pressure in weather reports, refrigeration and aviation in the United States, but is seldom used elsewhere....
). Shortly after reaching that intensity, Beatriz passed over the 26°C
Celsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
(78.8°F
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...
) isotherm—the lowest temperature required for a tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
to develop—causing Beatriz to weaken. Deep convection associated with the storm diminished and the persistent wind shear had displaced the center from the remaining convection. This led forecasters at the National Hurricane Center
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of the National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting weather systems within the tropics between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th...
to downgrade Beatriz to a tropical depression on the night of June 23. Due to the lack of convection around the center of the depression, it was determined to have degenerated into a remnant low-pressure area
Low pressure area
A low-pressure area, or "low", is a region where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is below that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence which occur in upper levels of the troposphere. The formation process of a low-pressure area is known as...
later that night. The remnant low later became detached from the mid and upper-level circulations, and took a slow turn to the southeast before dissipating on June 25.
Impact and statistics
Since Beatriz remained away from land throughout its life, there was no impact related to the storm. There were no ship reports of tropical storm-force winds. However, there was one report of 35 mph (55 km/h) winds—equivalent to a strong tropical depression—from a ship code-named 9VVN, in the southwest quadrant of the storm on the afternoon of June 22. Beatriz was the first June tropical storm to form since Tropical Storm Carlos in the 2003 Pacific hurricane season2003 Pacific hurricane season
The 2003 Pacific hurricane season produced an unusually large number of tropical cyclones which affected Mexico. The most notable cyclones the year were Hurricanes Ignacio and Marty, which killed 2 and 12 people in Mexico, respectively, and were collectively responsible for about...
.
See also
- 2005 Pacific hurricane season2005 Pacific hurricane seasonThe 2005 Pacific hurricane season officially began on May 15, 2005 in the eastern Pacific and on June 1, 2005 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 2005. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean...
- Timeline of the 2005 Pacific hurricane seasonTimeline of the 2005 Pacific hurricane seasonThe 2005 Pacific hurricane season was the least active season since the 2001 season, producing 16 tropical depressions; 15 of which became tropical storms or hurricanes...