Tropical Storm Josephine (1996)

Infobox Hurricane
Name=Tropical Storm Josephine
Year=1996
Basin=Atl
Type=tropical storm
Image location=Tropical Storm Josephine (1996).gif


Formed=October 4, 1996
Dissipated=October 16, 1996
1-min winds=50
Pressure=981
Da

Inflated=-1
Fatalities=2 indirect
Areas=Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Atlantic Canada
Hurricane season=1996 Atlantic hurricane season

Tropical Storm Josephine was the tenth named storm of a moderately active 1996 Atlantic hurricane season. A strong tropical storm, Josephine dumped heavy rain across most of the southeastern and eastern United States killing two people and leaving $130 million dollars (1996 USD, $158 million 2005 USD) in damage.

Meteorological history

Josephine formed from the tail end of a front that had stalled in the Gulf of Mexico. Josephine then reached tropical depression status on October 4 and became a tropical storm on October 6 after meandering around for days as a tropical depression. Between the 6th and 7th of October, Josephine rapidly moved eastward and was nearing hurricane strength before upper level wind shear disrupted the storm structure. Later on the 7th, the storm made landfall near Apalachee Bay, Florida as a strong tropical storm. When the storm crossed the coast, it lost tropical characteristics and was declared an extratropical storm as it moved over Georgia. The extratropical remnants of Josephine then raced across the U.S. East coast and Atlantic Canada before merging with another extratropical storm on October 16.

Impact

Although the storm did not make landfall while in the Gulf of Mexico, Josephine did manage to cause extensive beach erosion and destroy a house. The storm also produced heavy rains along the S. Texas coast. [http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/Quarterdeck/QD5.1/allison-5.1.html]

Josephine produced heavy rains across northern Florida. In Jacksonville, about 9.08 inches of rain fell in a 48 hour period, flooding 80 streets and leaving 100,000 homes without power. Josephine also spawned a tornado that damaged 131 mobile homes in Putnam County. Eight other tornadoes were reported elsewhere in Florida.

As the storm moved up the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, it dumped more than convert|4|in|mm of rain over Wilmington, North Carolina and spawned a tornado that damaged a home in Brunswick County, North Carolina. Charlotte County, North Carolina received $230,000 dollars in damage, mainly from flooding. [http://www.charlottecountyfl.com/Emergency/Flooding/] In Virginia, the rains brought by Josephine caused 70 traffic accidents in the southeastern part of the state but there were no deaths or serious injuries. In Newport News, the storm dumped heavy rains that caused considerable flooding which is the result of a combination of the rains and the drainage system that was unable to take that amount of water. [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=0EB4EA0BD244CF9D&p_docnum=4&p_queryname=2&p_product=NPNB&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=H5CD58LVMTEzOTI0MjQzNS4yNDQ0NDA6MToxNDoxNjQuMTA2LjIwMS41MA] Elsewhere in the state, Josephine left 55,000 homes and businesses without power and there was moderate tree damage. [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=0EB4EA0BCC9539CE&p_docnum=5&p_queryname=2&p_product=NPNB&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=H5CD58LVMTEzOTI0MjQzNS4yNDQ0NDA6MToxNDoxNjQuMTA2LjIwMS41MA] The damage was considerable in the areas that were already affected by Hurricanes Bertha and Fran months earlier. In New York, the storm postponed the American League baseball playoffs. [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wjosdmg.htm]

In all, Josephine indirectly caused two fatalities and left $130 million dollars in damage (1996 USD, $158 million 2005 USD).

Lack of retirement

Because damage from Josephine was not regarded as significant enough to warrant retirement of the name it was used again in 2002 and in 2008.

See also

* Tropical cyclone

ources

* [http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/Quarterdeck/QD5.1/allison-5.1.html Quarterdeck 5.1 (Tropical Storm Josephine)]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wjosdmg.htm USA Today]

External links

* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1996josephin.html Josephine 1996 report]
* [http://chronicle.augusta.com/headlines/100896/josephine.html Agusta News]