NHC Release Report On Hurricane Joaquin
The U.S. National Hurricane Center has released their report into Hurricane Joaquin, which passed over Bermuda in October 2015, knocking out power for some residents and creating clean-up work which was quickly attended to by the island’s various services.
The report said, “Joaquin was a category 4 hurricane [on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale] whose strong winds and storm surge devastated Crooked Island, Acklins, Long Island, Rum Cay, and San Salvador in the central and southeastern Bahamas.
Slideshow of Hurricane Joaquin passing over Bermuda:
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“Joaquin took the lives of 34 people — all at sea — including the 33 crewmembers of the cargo ship El Faro, which sunk during the storm northeast of Crooked Island. Joaquin is the strongest October hurricane known to have affected the Bahamas since 1866 and the strongest Atlantic hurricane of non-tropical origin in the satellite era.”
As it pertains to Bermuda, the report said. “Sustained tropical-storm-force winds and gusts to hurricane force affected Bermuda late on 4 October and early on 5 October.
“An offshore sensor located at the Crescent on the North Channel measured a 1-min sustained wind of 55 kt with a gust to 69 kt, while the airport reported a 10-min sustained wind of 49 kt and a gust to 63 kt. At an elevation of 290 ft, RCC Bermuda Radio measured a 1-min sustained wind of 80 kt and a gust to 100 kt.
Video highlights of Hurricane Joaquin passing over Bermuda:
“The Bermuda Weather Service reported that damage on Bermuda was considerably less than that caused by Hurricanes Fay and Gonzalo in 2014.
“There was some relatively minor damage to vegetation, and some structural damage occurred to the Bermuda Maritime Museum in Dockyard, which was still undergoing renovations from the previous year’s hurricanes.”
“Joaquin made its closest approach to Bermuda, about 60 n mi west-northwest of the island, around 0000 UTC 5 October.”
The 36-page NHC report on Hurricane Joaquin follows below [PDF here]:
