Tropical Storm Gamma (2005)
Encyclopedia
Tropical Storm Gamma was the 24th tropical storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
. It was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Honduras since Hurricane Mitch
of 1998. Gamma formed on November 18 from a tropical wave which had left the coast of Africa on November 3. Between November 13 and November 16 the system was designated Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven and moved westward through the Windward Islands
into the Caribbean. Although its winds were not of tropical storm force, the storm brought damagingly heavy rainfall to Trinidad
and to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
On November 18, after a period of disorganization during which it appeared to be dissipating, the system strengthened and was upgraded to a tropical storm off the coast of Honduras
and given the name Gamma. There, its torrential rainfall triggered deadly landslide
s. Gamma's winds and rains also reached into Belize
, where they were less deadly. The storm dissipated on November 22, having killed 39 people.
that moved off the western coast of Africa on November 3. For a late-season tropical wave, the system kept an unusually high amount of convection
as it trekked across the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center
(NHC) began to actively track the wave when it was located about 100 miles (160.9 km) off the coast of Barbados
. The low pressure area changed little during November 13, producing locally heavy rains in the Caribbean Islands, but not developing. However upper-level shearing
winds abated, making conditions conducive for tropical development
, and by November 14 the system had formed Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven.
An upper-level trough
near the Greater Antilles
continued to provide westerly shear that briefly stalled the development, but the system's strong convection persisted. A break in the shear on November 15 enabled the storm to briefly strengthen. Post season analysis showed during this period the system reached tropical storm-status and should have been christened Gamma, but as this was not seen at the time, the storm remained classified Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven. A deeplayered subtropical high pressure ridge over the southwestern Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico
propelled the system westward across the Caribbean at more than 25 mi/h and the storm's upper circulation was entirely separated from its deep convection
and low level circulatory center. The NHC, believing that the system was dissipating, announced that it was issuing its last advisory on November 16. Soon after, the system slowed down on November 17.
A tropical wave, which had formed over Panama
in early November and had produced rainfall in the region, merged into the waning remnants of Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven near Honduras on November 18. The system then restrengthened into a tropical storm on November 18 and was renamed Tropical Storm Gamma. The system's strengthening was slow, owing to the presence of high wind shear. It reached peak winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) before the shear exposed the center and its weakening trend began. Despite flares of convection, Gamma weakened into a tropical depression on November 20 and further into a remnant low early on November 21. The low quickly dissipated on November 22 near the Honduran-Nicaragua
n border.
from the Belize border to Punta Allen
. Before dawn the next day, as Gamma drew closer, Mexico modified the watch to a warning for its coast from the Belize border to Punta Gruesa, and expanded the tropical storm watch from Punta Gruesa to Tulum
. That afternoon the storm moved away from Belize the southernmost portion of the tropical storm warning was lifted, followed in totality a few hours later. That night, Mexico also lifted its watching and warnings. It was not until the following day, November 20, that the warnings were lifted from the Bay Islands of Honduras.
Because the storm regenerated shortly before it was predicted to make landfall, few advanced preparations for the storm were taken in Honduras. However, constant rainfall for well over a day as Gamma wandered offshore caused floods that forced over 30,000 people to abandon their homes for state-run shelters.
Two people were killed by a mudslide in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the island of Bequia
as Gamma's precursor, Tropical Depression 27, brought heavy rains. Overflowing rivers destroyed seven homes and make several roads impassable. The island's airport was temporarily closed when the tropical depression flooded the terminal and left debris on the runway. Heavy rains caused flooding and landslides, which washed away two bridges on the island of Trinidad
, outside the capital Port-of-Spain.
Although tropical storm-force winds did not impact mainland Honduras, an unofficial report of 4.44 inches (112.8 mm) of rain was reported on Roatan Island, and more than 30 inches (762 mm) of rain fell along the northern coast between November 16 and 19 before Gamma even reached the country. The rainfall triggered flooding and landslides in the northern departments of Gracias a Dios, Colón, Atlántida
, Cortés, Yoro, Santa Bárbara, and the Bay Islands which killed 34 people and left 13 missing . These areas had already been affected by Hurricane Wilma
and Hurricane Beta
about a month earlier. Dozens of bridges were washed away cutting off more than 50,000 people and 2,000 homes were destroyed 5200 acres (21 km²) of banana
crop was destroyed, totalling $13–18 million (2005 USD) in damage.
In Belize, Gamma contributed to the crash of a private plane, operating from an exclusive jungle resort. All three people aboard were killed as it passed through Gamma's outer bands. Five fishermen from Sarteneja
were lost at sea during the storm when a large wave capsized their eight-man boat.
' World Food Programme
spent $460,000 (2005 USD) airlifting 645 tonne
s of food, enough for 195,000 five-person families, to northern Honduras. The Red Cross also provided food aid, hygiene kits, blankets and other humanitarian aid to families that had sustained damage to their property or were displaced into shelters. Both of these organizations already had active distribution networks in the country as they were responding to hurricanes Stan
, Wilma
, and Beta
, all of which caused fatalities in Honduras that year.
The government of Andalucía, in Spain, donated 40 million lempiras
to aid in disaster efforts, and the United States employed helicopters from a nearby military base to assist Honduran ones in the distribution of food aid. Relative to the hurricanes of previous weeks, the humanitarian needs following Gamma were minimal, and were simply blended into the ongoing efforts. Following its usage, the name Gamma was not retired and will be used again when the regular list of names is exhausted.
After all of the twenty one predetermined hurricane names for the 2005 season were exhausted following Hurricane Wilma, the Greek alphabet
was used, beginning with Tropical Storm Alpha
. This storm was designated Gamma
once it was known to have reached tropical storm status. This was the first time that the name Gamma had been used for a tropical cyclone. Its formation extended the 2005 season's record for tropical storms to twenty-four, which was exceeded four more times and ended at twenty-eight storms after the formation of Tropical Storm Zeta
and the post-season addition of an unnamed storm
from October.
2005 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, repeatedly shattering numerous records. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with an estimated 3,913 deaths and record damage of about $159.2 billion...
. It was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Honduras since Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane and the most destructive of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph . The storm was the thirteenth tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the season. Along with Hurricane Georges, Mitch...
of 1998. Gamma formed on November 18 from a tropical wave which had left the coast of Africa on November 3. Between November 13 and November 16 the system was designated Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven and moved westward through the Windward Islands
Windward Islands
The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...
into the Caribbean. Although its winds were not of tropical storm force, the storm brought damagingly heavy rainfall to Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
and to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
On November 18, after a period of disorganization during which it appeared to be dissipating, the system strengthened and was upgraded to a tropical storm off the coast of Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
and given the name Gamma. There, its torrential rainfall triggered deadly landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s. Gamma's winds and rains also reached into Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, where they were less deadly. The storm dissipated on November 22, having killed 39 people.
Meteorological history
Tropical Storm Gamma originated 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...
that moved off the western coast of Africa on November 3. For a late-season tropical wave, the system kept an unusually high amount of convection
Atmospheric convection
Atmospheric convection is the result of a parcel-environment instability, or temperature difference, layer in the atmosphere. Different lapse rates within dry and moist air lead to instability. Mixing of air during the day which expands the height of the planetary boundary layer leads to...
as it trekked across the Atlantic Ocean. 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...
(NHC) began to actively track the wave when it was located about 100 miles (160.9 km) off the coast of Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. The low pressure area changed little during November 13, producing locally heavy rains in the Caribbean Islands, but not developing. However upper-level shearing
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...
winds abated, making conditions conducive for tropical development
Tropical cyclogenesis
Tropical cyclogenesis is the term that describes the development and strengthening of a tropical cyclone in the atmosphere. The mechanisms through which tropical cyclogenesis occurs are distinctly different from those through which mid-latitude cyclogenesis occurs...
, and by November 14 the system had formed Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven.
An upper-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...
near the Greater Antilles
Greater Antilles
The Greater Antilles are one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles constitute almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies.-Greater Antilles in context :The islands of the Caribbean Sea, collectively known as...
continued to provide westerly shear that briefly stalled the development, but the system's strong convection persisted. A break in the shear on November 15 enabled the storm to briefly strengthen. Post season analysis showed during this period the system reached tropical storm-status and should have been christened Gamma, but as this was not seen at the time, the storm remained classified Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven. A deeplayered subtropical high pressure ridge over the southwestern Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
propelled the system westward across the Caribbean at more than 25 mi/h and the storm's upper circulation was entirely separated from its deep convection
Atmospheric convection
Atmospheric convection is the result of a parcel-environment instability, or temperature difference, layer in the atmosphere. Different lapse rates within dry and moist air lead to instability. Mixing of air during the day which expands the height of the planetary boundary layer leads to...
and low level circulatory center. The NHC, believing that the system was dissipating, announced that it was issuing its last advisory on November 16. Soon after, the system slowed down on November 17.
A tropical wave, which had formed over Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in early November and had produced rainfall in the region, merged into the waning remnants of Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven near Honduras on November 18. The system then restrengthened into a tropical storm on November 18 and was renamed Tropical Storm Gamma. The system's strengthening was slow, owing to the presence of high wind shear. It reached peak winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) before the shear exposed the center and its weakening trend began. Despite flares of convection, Gamma weakened into a tropical depression on November 20 and further into a remnant low early on November 21. The low quickly dissipated on November 22 near the Honduran-Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n border.
Preparations
On November 18 the government of Honduras issued tropical storm warnings for the Bay Islands, Belize issued a tropical storm warning for its entire coast, and Mexico issued a tropical storm watch for the eastern Yucatán PeninsulaYucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
from the Belize border to Punta Allen
Punta Allen
Punta Allen is the largest village in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve at the end of the Boca Paila peninsula in Tulum Municipality in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo...
. Before dawn the next day, as Gamma drew closer, Mexico modified the watch to a warning for its coast from the Belize border to Punta Gruesa, and expanded the tropical storm watch from Punta Gruesa to Tulum
Tulum, Quintana Roo
Tulum is the largest community in the municipality of Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is located on the Caribbean coast of the state, near the site of the archaeological ruins of Tulum...
. That afternoon the storm moved away from Belize the southernmost portion of the tropical storm warning was lifted, followed in totality a few hours later. That night, Mexico also lifted its watching and warnings. It was not until the following day, November 20, that the warnings were lifted from the Bay Islands of Honduras.
Because the storm regenerated shortly before it was predicted to make landfall, few advanced preparations for the storm were taken in Honduras. However, constant rainfall for well over a day as Gamma wandered offshore caused floods that forced over 30,000 people to abandon their homes for state-run shelters.
Impact
| Country | Deaths |
|---|---|
| Belize Belize Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official... |
3 |
| Honduras Honduras Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize... |
34 |
| St. Vincent | 2 |
| Totals | 39 |
Two people were killed by a mudslide in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the island of Bequia
Bequia
Bequia is the largest island in the Grenadines. It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and is approximately 15 km from the nation's capital, Kingstown.-Geography:The island capital is Port Elizabeth...
as Gamma's precursor, Tropical Depression 27, brought heavy rains. Overflowing rivers destroyed seven homes and make several roads impassable. The island's airport was temporarily closed when the tropical depression flooded the terminal and left debris on the runway. Heavy rains caused flooding and landslides, which washed away two bridges on the island of Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, outside the capital Port-of-Spain.
Although tropical storm-force winds did not impact mainland Honduras, an unofficial report of 4.44 inches (112.8 mm) of rain was reported on Roatan Island, and more than 30 inches (762 mm) of rain fell along the northern coast between November 16 and 19 before Gamma even reached the country. The rainfall triggered flooding and landslides in the northern departments of Gracias a Dios, Colón, Atlántida
Atlántida (department)
Atlántida is a department located on the north Caribbean shore of Honduras, Central America. The capital is the port city of La Ceiba.In the past decades the tourism took over to become the most important legitimate economic source for the coastal area. In 2005 it had an estimated population of...
, Cortés, Yoro, Santa Bárbara, and the Bay Islands which killed 34 people and left 13 missing . These areas had already been affected by Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
and Hurricane Beta
Hurricane Beta (2005)
Hurricane Beta was a compact and intense tropical cyclone that impacted areas around the southwestern Caribbean Sea in late October 2005. Beta was the twenty-fourth tropical or subtropical storm, fourteenth hurricane, and seventh and final major hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic...
about a month earlier. Dozens of bridges were washed away cutting off more than 50,000 people and 2,000 homes were destroyed 5200 acres (21 km²) of banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
crop was destroyed, totalling $13–18 million (2005 USD) in damage.
In Belize, Gamma contributed to the crash of a private plane, operating from an exclusive jungle resort. All three people aboard were killed as it passed through Gamma's outer bands. Five fishermen from Sarteneja
Sarteneja
Sarteneja is a fishing village in the Corozal District of Belize. It is located on the Shipstern Peninsula, approximately forty miles by road from Orange Walk Town and is near the privately owned Shipstern Nature Reserve...
were lost at sea during the storm when a large wave capsized their eight-man boat.
Aftermath, naming, and records
The only country suffering lasting damage from the storm was Honduras. After the storm turned out to sea and Gamma's rains desisted, Honduran helicopters began rescuing those stranded by flood waters. The United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' World Food Programme
World Food Programme
The World Food Programme is the food aid branch of the United Nations, and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger worldwide. WFP provides food, on average, to 90 million people per year, 58 million of whom are children...
spent $460,000 (2005 USD) airlifting 645 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of food, enough for 195,000 five-person families, to northern Honduras. The Red Cross also provided food aid, hygiene kits, blankets and other humanitarian aid to families that had sustained damage to their property or were displaced into shelters. Both of these organizations already had active distribution networks in the country as they were responding to hurricanes Stan
Hurricane Stan
Hurricane Stan was the eighteenth named tropical storm and eleventh hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the sixth of seven tropical cyclones to make landfall in Mexico. Stan was a relatively weak storm that only briefly reached hurricane status...
, Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
, and Beta
Hurricane Beta (2005)
Hurricane Beta was a compact and intense tropical cyclone that impacted areas around the southwestern Caribbean Sea in late October 2005. Beta was the twenty-fourth tropical or subtropical storm, fourteenth hurricane, and seventh and final major hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic...
, all of which caused fatalities in Honduras that year.
The government of Andalucía, in Spain, donated 40 million lempiras
Honduran lempira
The lempiras is the currency of Honduras. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The lempira was named after the 16th-century cacique Lempira, a ruler of the indigenous Lenca people, who is renowned in Honduran folklore for leading the local native resistance against the Spanish conquistador forces...
to aid in disaster efforts, and the United States employed helicopters from a nearby military base to assist Honduran ones in the distribution of food aid. Relative to the hurricanes of previous weeks, the humanitarian needs following Gamma were minimal, and were simply blended into the ongoing efforts. Following its usage, the name Gamma was not retired and will be used again when the regular list of names is exhausted.
After all of the twenty one predetermined hurricane names for the 2005 season were exhausted following Hurricane Wilma, the Greek alphabet
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
was used, beginning with Tropical Storm Alpha
Tropical Storm Alpha (2005)
Tropical Storm Alpha was the twenty-third named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The twenty-one names from the predetermined A–W list having been used, Alpha was the first tropical storm ever to be given a name from the Greek alphabet. On October 20, Tropical Depression...
. This storm was designated Gamma
Gamma
Gamma is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Gimel . Letters that arose from Gamma include the Roman C and G and the Cyrillic letters Ge Г and Ghe Ґ.-Greek:In Ancient Greek, gamma represented a...
once it was known to have reached tropical storm status. This was the first time that the name Gamma had been used for a tropical cyclone. Its formation extended the 2005 season's record for tropical storms to twenty-four, which was exceeded four more times and ended at twenty-eight storms after the formation of Tropical Storm Zeta
Tropical Storm Zeta (2005)
Tropical Storm Zeta was a late-developing tropical storm over the central Atlantic which formed after the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season had officially ended , and continued into January 2006...
and the post-season addition of an unnamed storm
2005 Azores subtropical storm
The 2005 Azores subtropical storm was the nineteenth nameable storm of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was not officially named by the National Hurricane Center as it was operationally classified as a non-tropical low. The storm developed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean out of...
from October.
See also
- Tropical cycloneTropical cycloneA 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...
- List of 2005 Atlantic hurricane season storms
- Timeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane seasonTimeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe timeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season documents the formations, strengthenings, weakenings, landfalls, extratropical transitions, and dissipations of the season's tropical and subtropical storms. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in...
External links
- The NHC's archive on Tropical Storm Gamma.
- Yahoo! News story