Hurricane Iris (1995)

Infobox Hurricane
Name=Hurricane Iris
Type=hurricane
Year=1995
Basin=Atl
Image location=Hurricane Iris (1995).gif

category 2 hurricane
Formed=August 22, 1995
Dissipated=September 4, 1995
1-min winds=95
Pressure=965
Da

Inflated=
Fatalities=5 direct
Areas=Leeward Islands, Western Europe
Hurricane season=1995 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Iris was the ninth named tropical cyclone and fifth hurricane of an active 1995 Atlantic hurricane season. Iris was one of four storms to form nearly simultaneously in the Atlantic during the 1995 season. Forming on August 22, Iris slowly drifted across the Leeward Islands as a tropical storm before reaching hurricane strength. After peaking at Category 2 strength, Iris then accelerated and became extratropical on September 7. Iris' remnants reached western Europe as a 75 mph (121 km/h) extratropical storm.

During its life cycle, Iris made two Fujiwhara interactions. The first was with Hurricane Humberto, while the second was with Tropical Storm Karen which was later absorbed by Iris. Iris produced torrential rainfall across the Leeward Islands while at tropical storm strength. The rainfall caused isolated reports of landslides which killed five people.

Meteorological history

Iris began as a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on August 16. It moved westward with a disorganized center of circulation that persisted until August 19. On August 21, the tropical wave became Tropical Depression Ten, based on Dvorak technique estimates. Six hours later, the depression became Tropical Storm Iris. Iris took a path to the northwest and quickly strengthened on August 23. On that day, a Hurricane Hunter flight revealed that the winds were stronger than the satellite estimates. The datafrom the reconnaissance flight prompted Iris to be upgraded to hurricane status.cite web|author=Edward Rappaport|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1995iris.html|title=Preliminary Report Hurricane Iris|publisher=National Hurricane Center|accessdate=2006-08-29|date=1995-11-26]

Humberto, Iris, Jerry] , and two waves that would ultimately become Karen and LuisIris then moved to the west-southwest at convert|12|mph|km/h. The change in course was due to the interaction with Hurricane Humberto which was convert|750|mi|km away. On August 25, Iris then encountered an upper level low that was centered over Puerto Rico. The low caused increased wind shear which weakened Iris back to tropical storm strength. In addition, steering currents ahead of the storm caused Iris to move northwestward through the entire length of the Leeward Islands. As wind shear decreased, Iris steadily strengthened as it moved on a northward path away from the Leeward Islands where it regained hurricane status on August 28. Two days later, Iris underwent a second Fujiwhara interaction with Tropical Storm Karen. The interaction caused Karen to be absorbed by Iris by September 3, resulting in Iris' storm path briefly becoming erratic. Iris reached a peak intensity of convert|110|mph|km/h and a minimum barometric pressure of convert|965|mb|hPa before transversing into a powerful extratropical storm. The extratropical remnants of Iris struck northwestern Europe on September 7.

Preparations, Impact and Naming

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for the Leeward Islands. The French government also issued advisories for Martinique and Guadeloupe. The following day, the tropical storm watches were changed to tropical storm warnings as Iris drifted closer. The British Virgin Islands were placed under a tropical storm watch which later changed to a warning on August 26.

In Trinidad and Tobago, a feeder band from Iris brought convert|37|mph|km/h winds from the south. The winds caused heavy seas and minor damage to small boats. [http://nema.gov.tt/resources/downloads/tropicalcyclones.pdf#search=%22Hurricane%20Iris%20(1995)%22 URL Accessed: August 31, 2006] A weather station east of Guadeloupe recorded convert|52|mph|km/h|abbr=on winds with gusts up to 62 mph (100 km/h). Winds ranging from convert|41|to|56|mph|km/h|abbr=on were reported in the Leeward Islands. In addition to the winds, Iris produced heavy rainfall across the Leeward Islands. Rainfall up to convert|17.2|in|cm were reported in Martinique while convert|6|in|cm|abbr=on of rain fell in Antigua. The heavy rains caused numerous landslides that killed four people in Martinique and one in Guadeloupe. Rainfall also caused flooding in Antigua and the rest of the Leeward Islands.

Because the damage was minimal, the name Iris was not retired in the spring of 1996, so it was reused again in 2001. The name Iris has since been retired in the spring of 2002. Because of this, the name Iris has been used only three times since hurricane naming began in 1950.cite web|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/tracks1851to2007_atl_reanal.txt|accessdate=2008-09-22|title=Atlantic Tracks File 1851-2007|publisher=National Hurricane Center|format=plaintext|date=2007-04-22]

See also

* Tropical cyclone

References