September 2004 Archives

Greetings Tom,
Has a hurricane ever crossed the Atlantic and landed in Europe?
Martin Mockenhaupt, Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Dear Martin,
Occasionally, the remnants of hurricanes lose their tropical features as they traverse the north Atlantic and slam into northwest Europe, where they are known as “tempests”. Most storms bring squally weather with strong winds and heavy rainfall. Sometimes they wreak havoc: in 1996 remains of Hurricane Lili hit Britain with 90 m.p.h. winds, while in 1998 the worst storm in over a century raked the Netherlands and Belgium. These tempests normally occur late in the hurricane season. The current Hurricane Karl may ultimately reach Europe. A similar scenario occurs in the Pacific former typhoons trek eastward at high latitudes and slash the northwest U.S./southwest Canada.

Early fall in interior North America is described as “warm, sunny days and cool clear nights”. Chicago has been living up to that description in recent days. However, daytime temperatures crash about 10° with cold frontal passage early Friday, but the sunny days continue. So far in September, Chicago is sporting 89 percent of possible sunshine. If the month closes out with this much sunshine, as it might, it would be the second sunniest month since records began in 1893. Only sizzling July, 1916 had more sunshine. Meanwhile in the tropics, Ivan has been upgraded to a tropical depression and forecast to strengthen before landfall along the Texas coast. Current forecast for the unpredictable Hurricane Jeanne brings it dangerously close to the southeast coast.

The hurricane parade continues. Will Jeanne be the fourth hurricane to slam Florida this season?

Steve Kahn