Late November 1984 Nor'easter

Infobox winter storm|name=Late November 1984 Nor'easter
image location=1984112318GOES6VIS.jpg

November 23 1984. Its well-defined cold front is seen entering eastern Cuba at that time.
stormtype=Nor'easter
date formed=November 22, 1984
date dissipated=November 29, 1984
maximum amount=No snow or ice
pressure=1005 mbar (hPa)
total damages (USD)=$7.4 million (1984 USD)
total fatalities=1
areas affected=FloridaThe Late November 1984 Nor'easter occurred on the United States' Thanksgiving Day, November 22 1984. A deep extratropical cyclone located just off the shore of Florida led to significant beach erosion and the grounding of the freighter "Mercedes I" for several months along the coastal town of Palm Beach. [Vanderbilt University Television News Archive. [http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1984-11/1984-11-23-ABC-12.html Headline: Florida / Grounded Freighter.] Retrieved on 18 November 2006.] It formed unusually early, and its effects were seen unusually far south into Florida.

Development of the cyclone

A cyclone aloft cut off from the main band of the Westerlies. It spurred cyclogenesis in the Florida Straits by November 22, which led to a nor'easter at an unusually southern latitude near the Bahamas. The surface cyclone slowly travelled from the Florida Keys up the Gulf Stream between Florida and the Bahamas before drifting back out to sea. The storm attempted to gain some central convection during several periods of its life cycle. It was at its most intense on November 23 and November 24, with a central pressure near 1005 hPa. [U.S. Department of Commerce. [http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/dwm/1984/19841119-19841125.djvu Daily Weather Maps: November 19- November 25, 1984.] Retrieved on November 18 2006.] The cyclone moved far enough to the east to allow winds and seas to subside on November 26. There is some evidence that it may have become a subtropical cyclone around November 28, while located in the vicinity of Bermuda. [Danielle Manning and Robert Hart. [http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/108582.pdf Using ERA40 in Cyclone Phase Space to Refine the Classification of Historical Tropical Storms.] Retrieved on November 18 2006.]

Effects

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thumb|right|250px|Surface_analysis_showing_the_cyclone_on_the_morning_of_November 23 1984] Significant rainfall was recorded along the Palm Beach County coast between November 21 and November 26 during this event, [Wossenu Abtew, R. Scott Huebner, and Violeta Ciuca. South Florida Water Management District. [http://www.sfwmd.gov/sfer/SFER_2006/volume1/chapters/v1_ch_5.pdf Chapter 5: Hydrology of the South Florida Environment.] Retrieved on November 18 2006.] with local amounts of up to 9 inches (225 mm) measured. Surface temperatures hovered in the middle 50s°F, or around 13°C, within the main region of impact. However, wind and high seas were the storm's main impact due to the strong pressure gradient between the cyclone's center and a 1040 hPa surface high over the Ohio Valley. Winds as high as 50 kts (90 km/h) with swells of up to 20 feet were reported by ships in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Along the Atlantic coast, winds reached 50 knots (90 km/h) at Vero Beach, 48 kts (89 km/h) at Melbourne, 40 kts (74 km/h) at Titusville, and 38 kts (70 km/h) at Cocoa Beach. Offshore the Atlantic coast, seas also reached 20 feet (6 m). Coastal erosion took its toll between St. Augustine and Palm Beach during the three-day storm, which eventually subsided on November 26. About five-sixths of a new pier at St. Augustine was destroyed. Erosion from this cyclone would be the worst experienced in southern Brevard County until Hurricane Frances in 2004. [Florida Department of Environmental Protection. [http://bcs.dep.state.fl.us/reports/franjean/Hurricanes_Frances_&_Jeanne/Report_Sections/East_Coast/Brevard_County.pdf Brevard County: Hurricane Frances and Jeanne Damage Assessment Location Map.] Retrieved on November 19 2006.]

The storm dragged the 197-foot Venezuelan freighter "Mercedes I" ashore the coast of Palm Beach and through a seawall, where it remained in a socialite's backyard into early 1985. [Marc Fisher and Mary Jo Tierney, Miami Herald. [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB36113B5B040D4&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM STORM CUTS SWATH OF DESTRUCTION ALONG FLORIDA COAST.] Retrieved on November 18 2006.] Once hauled out to sea, the vessel was sunk and became an artificial coral reef off Fort Lauderdale on March 30, 1985. [Greg Johnston. [http://www.visitflorida.com/cms/d/exploring_wrecks_in_fort_lauderdale_and_the_keys.php Exploring Wrecks in Fort Lauderdale and the Keys.] Retrieved on November 18 2006.] A second freighter ran aground offshore Jacksonville. Damage from Vero Beach alone totalled US$3.4 million (1984 dollars). Martin County reported an addition US$4 million in losses (1984 dollars). [The New York Times. United Press International. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E7D61638F935A15752C1A962948260 AROUND THE NATION; Florida's Storm Ends, Leaving Damage Behind.] Retrieved on November 18 2006.] One person perished. [National Weather Service Forecast Office, Melbourne, Florida. [http://www.srh.weather.gov/mlb/mart.html Martin County.] Retrieved on November 19 2006.]

Other significant Florida extratropical cyclones

The top three deadliest tornado outbreaks in the state's history occurred with extratropical cyclones in February 1998, March 1962, and April 1966. [Bartlett C. Hagemeyer and Scott M. Spratt. [http://www.srh.weather.gov/mlb/agnes30.html THIRTY YEARS AFTER HURRICANE AGNES - THE FORGOTTEN FLORIDA TORNADO DISASTER.] Retrieved on 2006-11-25.] In 1989, a December cyclone spun up offshore northeast Florida, bringing measureable snow to Jacksonville and flurries across Sarasota, east-central Florida, [National Weather Service Forecast Office, Melbourne, Florida. [http://www.srh.weather.gov/mlb/surveys/012403/flurries.html Cold Temperatures and Snow Flurries in East-Central Florida January 24 2003.] Retrieved on November 19 2006.] and some Lake Okeechobee-effect snows downwind of the lake.In 1993, the Storm of the Century brought an intense squall line, and winds gusting over 85 knots, to much of the Sunshine State during the early morning hours of March 13. Later that day, flurries were witnessed across the Florida Panhandle in its wake. A frontal wave which became a powerful Christmas 1994 Nor'easter moved across Florida, bringing windy and rainy conditions to the state.

ee also

*Climate of Florida
*Cyclogenesis
*Extratropical cyclone
*Lake effect snow
*Nor'easter
*Surface weather analysis

References

World wide web

Printed Media

*Weather Log, November 1984. Mariner's Weather Log. Spring 1985: pp. 91-92.

External links

* [http://www.shipwreckexpo.com/fleastmercedes.htm Florida Shipwrecks: Mercedes I]