Tropical Storm Delta; Landfall to occur in Morocco

Does anyone know if this has happened before???

I keep thinking about Hurricane Katarina that hit Brazil in the Southern Hemisphere and Tropical Storm Vince that slammed Portugal.

There have been so many recorded firsts in such a short period of time.... This is scary stuff.

I have done some reading and I am assuming that this is a Cape Verde-type hurricane, as it is off the West Coast of Africa.

A Cape Verde-type hurricane is a tropical cyclone that develops near the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa, and becomes a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. The average hurricane season has about two Cape Verde-type hurricanes, which are usually the most intense storms of the season because they have plenty of warm open ocean to develop over before encountering land

Cape Verde-type hurricanes typically develop in the African savanna during the wet season, then move into the African steppes. The disturbances move off the western coast of Africa and become tropical near the Cape Verde Islands, generally in August or September.

Seems a little out of season if it is though, don't you think?

I don't think Delta came from Africa, IIRC it began as a mid atlantic tropical low somewhere around 35n and moved south where it began to rotate and organize.

NHC Tropical Outlook
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1030 PM EST MON NOV 28 2005

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

SHOWER ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH A NON-TROPICAL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE
CENTERED ABOUT 950 MILES EAST OF BERMUDA HAS CHANGED LITTLE IN
ORGANIZATION THIS EVENING. THERE CONTINUES TO BE SOME POTENTIAL
FOR SUBTROPICAL OR TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM OVER THE
NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS IT MOVES SLOWLY WEST OR SOUTHWESTWARD.

ELSEWHERE... TROPICAL STORM FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH
WEDNESDAY.

Could we see a December storm?

per Wunderblog's Dr. Jeff Masters TS Delta has already claimed the lives of six people in the Canary Islands.

www.wunderground.com...

Tropical Storm Delta slammed into Spain's Canary Islands last night at near hurricane strength, killing at least seven people. One man died when he was blown off the roof he was trying to repair, and six African illegal immigrants drowned after winds caused their boat to capsize while attempting to reach Gran Canaria Island. Twelve of the immigrants remained missing while 32 were rescued. Each year, thousands of migrants try to reach the Canary Islands from Africa and many die in the attempt, but usually not in a tropical storm!

Sustained winds of 71 mph gusting to 86 mph were recorded at Tenarife, and a wind gust of 94 mph was recorded at La Palma. The near hurricane force winds caused extensive damage to utility poles, roofs, and trees all across the islands, which are a popular tourist destination for Europeans. Power is still out to over 223,000 residents today, but is expected to be restored to a large majority by Wednesday. Delta weakened considerably after smashing through the Canary Islands, and came ashore in Morocco this morning with only 45 mph winds gusts and some isolated pockets of heavy rain. Delta's rains were expected to provide a boon to local farmers unaccustomed to heavy precipitation.

This year is definitely one for the record books. I've never heard of a hurricane hitting Africa, usually they come from Africa so that is a little crazy imo, but there's a first for everything and this year has seen many "firsts".


[edit on 11-29-2005 by worldwatcher]

Oh poo...

I just remembered, one of my mates has just moved out to Tenerife...I hope she is ok..

I found this map and upon closer study, I noticed a few things worth mentioning....



Notice that there in fact appears to have been at least three tropical storms that reached the Iberian peninsula. While rare, Vince may not have been so unique. I also note with interest that the Canary Islands and the Moroccan coast have never been hit. TS Delta would be the first.

[edit on 1-12-2005 by loam]