THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280361
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
For only the second time since names have been given to tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, we've made it to the letter ``N.''
Noel, which is far out in the Atlantic, earned its name Wednesday morning when its sustained winds hit 40 mph. And at 5 p.m., the National Hurricane Center designated another area of disturbed weather in the Caribbean as Tropical Depression 17.
The development of the two storms brought to an end a few brief days of relative calm in the tropical Atlantic, which is experiencing its busiest hurricane season in 60 years.
Noel is the 14th tropical storm of the season. The last ``N'' storm was Nana, in October 1990. Atlantic storms have been named since 1950.
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, Noel was about 1,300 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, over open waters and of no threat to land. The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, was moving northwest near 9 mph; this motion was expected to continue today.
Some strengthening is possible today, but Noel is moving into an area where winds in the upper atmosphere would tend to tear into or ``shear'' the storm's circulation.
Even if it does strengthen, forecasters doubt Noel will pose any threat to North America. A well-formed low-pressure trough - much like the one that hovered for weeks off the Southeast and steered several storms away from the mid-Atlantic coast - has developed in the Atlantic ahead of Noel and is expected to steer the storm to the north and northeast.
Of more concern to forecasters Wednesday was the newer and smaller storm on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Tropical depression 17, with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph, was about 75 miles south-southwest of Cozumel, Mexico, at 5 p.m. Wednesday. It was drifting northwest near 3 mph. That motion was expected to continue today, with the storm remaining near or over the Yucatan Peninsula through Thursday.
The immediate concern was for rainfall of 5 to 10 inches over portions of the Yucatan. But once the storm moves into the Gulf of Mexico, it could intensify. Atmospheric conditions in the Gulf are favorable for strengthening, and waters there remain amply warm.
The hurricane center warned that residents along the Gulf Coast should keep an eye on the depression which, if it intensifies enough, would be named Opal. ILLUSTRATION: TRACKER'S GUIDE
STEVE STONE/Staff
Tropical cyclone data is from the National Hurricane Center and
includes latitude, longitude and maximum sustained winds.
Tropical Storm Noel
To hear updates from the National Hurricane Center, call INFOLINE
at 640-5555 and enter category 1237.
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB