Tropical Storm Katrina (1999)
Tropical Storm Katrina was a weak tropical cyclone towards the end of the Atlantic hurricane season of 1999. Katrina was the eleventh benamte storm of the season.
Katrina formed over the southwestern Caribbean Sea and was only briefly a tropical storm. Most of his existence as a tropical depression, the system spent, mostly over land. It crossed Central America exactly one year after the catastrophic Hurricane Mitch, but taught at little damage.
Storm History
The system grew out of a weak cold front that moved slowly in the fourth week of October 1999 in the western Caribbean. The cold front broke up, but during the next few days took a weak area of low pressure their space a. On October 27, a circulating movement was north of Panama established and the system organized itself gradually better. A reconnaissance aircraft began on the afternoon of 28 October in the area and made it east of Bluefields in Nicaragua a well-trained circulation near the ground firmly. Therefore, the system was declared Tropical Depression Fifteen.
The system was not well organized and the influence of the mountainous landscape of Central America slowed any potential development. Strong wind shear due to a high-pressure trough in the height also prevented the development of the system, as it approached the coast of Nicaragua. Despite all this, the convection increased on the afternoon of October 29 a short time and the low pressure area was therefore incremented by the National Hurricane Center Tropical Storm Katrina. After the system just six hours held the status of a tropical storm, it had already reached south of Puerto Cabezas in Nicaragua the mainland and the storm weakened to a tropical again from deep.
After this first contact, the low country remained poorly organized as it moved to the northwest, for the most part on the mainland. The low pressure system managed to survive his way over Nicaragua and Honduras and came away late on 30 October as a weak tropical depression with winds of 45 km / h and a circulation center in the Gulf of Honduras. Nevertheless, Katrina was back on the water, it was not possible the low to win again in power and was on his second reaching the mainland on the morning of October 31 at the southeastern tip of Yucatán still a tropical depression. This then moved slowly over the central region of Yucatan and was weaker than approaching another cold front from the Gulf of Mexico. The system was slowly absorbed by the cold front when Katrina on the morning of the 1st of November, the Gulf and dissolved completely in the afternoon on.
Preparations and impact
Although Katrina was a weak storm that meteorologists have been quite nervous about the system because Central America was exactly one year previously devastated by Hurricane Mitch. There were legitimate fears of further flash floods and landslides in the Central American highlands. Immediately after the tropical low pressure system was declared as such, the authorities have issued a warning against Nicaragua for a tropical storm, was expanded shortly thereafter to the Colombian island of San Andrés.
All in all, the damage caused by Katrina were minimal and occurred only a few small landslides and flooding as the storm over Central America hinwegzog. According to estimates fell as a result of Katrina 250-375 mm of rain, which on the east of Nicaragua lying island of San Andres 91 mm of precipitation was observed within six hours. In connection with the tropical storm Katrina no reports of injuries have been reported.
In the absence of substantial damage, the name Katrina was not removed and reused during the Atlantic hurricane season in 2005, but then deleted and replaced by Katia due to the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina.