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Tropical Storm Delta (2005)
Encyclopedia
TropicalStorm Delta was a late-forming tropical storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
which struck the Canary Islands
as a strong extratropical storm, causing significant damage and then crossed over Morocco
before dissipating. It was the twenty-sixth tropical or subtropical storm of the season, making the 2005 season the first to record so many storms.
Tropical Storm Delta, like most late-season storms, developed out of an extratropical low. The storm gradually gained tropical characteristics and was briefly a subtropical storm on November 22. Delta moved erratically for a few days before moving towards the Canary Islands. It became extratropical just before it passed to the north of the archipelago
.
) southwest of the Azores
. It moved steadily eastward through November 20 but on November 21, under the influence of a cold front
to its north, the low turned northeastward and started to develop central convection. On November 22 the non-tropical low pressure system began to gain some tropical characteristics and its northward motion slowed to a stop. Late that afternoon the low transitioned into a Subtropical Storm
, while stalled about 800 mi (1,300 km) west-southwest of the Azores. Operationally the National Hurricane Center
considered that the storm had already gained enough tropical characteristics to be classified as a tropical storm, but in post-storm analysis this was reconsidered.
The storm's convection organized around a central core, and the system became a tropical storm on November 23 and received the name Delta. An eye-like feature appeared near the storm's circulatory center several time that day. The larger-scale deep-layered cyclonic circulation within which it was embedded steered it on a slow southward and then south-southwesterly track. Strong wind shear
prevented immediate development and the system added an eastward component to its drift. Moving out of the high-shear environment on November 24, Delta gained organization. Outflow and convective banding increased and an eye feature became well defined. This eye signaled the storm's peak strength of 70 mph (110 km/h), just below hurricane status. However, the official forecast at the time predicted Delta to strengthen further and become a minimal hurricane. Delta's motion stalled as it reached the southern base of a large cyclonic trough over the northern Atlantic within which it was embedded. Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day until, that evening when it began a slow southward drift at 6 mph (9 km/h). Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day Convection broke down in the storm's western semicircle early on November 25; the decreased organization caused slight weakening. Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day The southward motion slowed and the weakening trend continued into the evening. Cooling cold tops were counteracted by wind shear which exposed most of the low-level center. The storm's southward motion stopped and it began moving east at 6 mph (9 km/h). Some of the computer models suggested the weakening tropical storm could be absorbed by a developing low to the west, which a few days later became Hurricane Epsilon. This did not occur, and Tropical Storm Delta began to move to the northeast.
As Delta accelerated to the northeast towards the Canary Islands, it intensified again, reaching a second peak of just under hurricane strength on November 27. In post-storm analysis, the NHC noted that there was a possibility that Delta had briefly reached hurricane strength that day; however, the data was not conclusive enough to justify an upgrade to hurricane status. On November 28, as it neared the Canary Islands Tropical Storm Delta lost its tropical characteristics. The extratropical storm, which maintained winds of near-hurricane strength, passed about 105 mi (165 km) north of the islands that night. The storm moved over Morocco early on November 29 and rapidly weakened overland, dissipating late that day over northwestern Algeria
.
and La Palma
and La Gomera
. On the island of El Hierro
the exposed road to Sabinosa Health Center was closed as a precaution.
Delta caused considerable damage in the Canary Islands. The storm claimed nineteen lives and caused a total of €
312 million ($364 million 2005 US dollars) damage throughout the archipelago. Eighteen died when a boat sank off the Canary Islands; twelve of the bodies were never found. The nineteenth man was killed when while trying to repair his roof during the storm; winds threw him from his ladder. The islands of Tenerife and La Palma were hardest hit, with many uprooted trees and landslide
s reported. The peak gust recorded at La Palma was 95 mph (152 km/h), and at Tenerife the maximum gust was 90 mph (147 km/h). Some patients at Tenerife's University Hospital were evacuated to a safer part of the building when paneling from the hospital's heliport
was torn free and smashed some of the building's windows. Off Santa Cruz's
southern quay a tug boat broke its ties, collided with another vessel, and sank. Passengers at Tenerife North Airport, who were stranded when their flights canceled, witnessed parts of the new international terminal's roof tear off in the wind. In La Palma a falling palm tree, trunk snapped by the wind, injured the leg of a German tourist. Many palm trees along the Avenida Marítima were also blown down. The storms winds blew out windows and collapsed cornice
s, although other structural damage was minimal. Metal plates that had been used to board up buildings were strewn all over the island.
Over 225,000 residents lost electricity and 12,000 lost telephone service. Some vandalism and looting was reported during the loss of power, and the police made several arrests during the night. For over 24 hours roads were closed on the islands of El Hierro, Tenerife and La Palma: the first two due to landslides and the third by the collapse of an old house and a massive tree. One of the most famous geological features of the island of Gran Canaria, El Dedo de Dios
(or God's finger), which had been pointing towards the sky for over a millennium, was destroyed by Delta's wind and wave action along Gran Canaria
's shore. Upon hearing of the destruction of the natural monument one man, later found to be clinically insane, unsuccessfully tried to kill himself and then stabbed three members of his own family.
When the remnants of Delta arrived in Morocco they were described as a "normal atmospheric disturbance". No damage was reported there and in fact the system was welcomed by farmers who needed the rain to complete the sowing of cereal
crops.
25 million (US$
37.25 million) was allocated by the government of the Canary Islands in relief and reconstruction funds. Of this total, €22.5 million (US$33.5 million) was used to repair infrastructure and utilities; €1.5 million (US$2.2 million) was used for agricultural relief; and €1 million (US$1.5 million) was used in home repairs. Due to the severity of crop losses, farmers would be given a grant from the government that would cover 50% of their losses, including infrastructural. A tax break was also given to most residents who suffered damage from Delta.
Fishermen of the Canary Islands had to return to and remain in port for several days while weathering the storm, and this disruption was blamed for a 10–15% reduction of the islands' tuna catch. Tropical Storm Delta also had some further-reaching effects. The political opposition Popular Party
challenged that the impact of Tropical Storm Delta proved the need for the island to prepare an emergency plan to deal with natural and man-made disasters. Only five of the island's many municipalities had an emergency plan, and there was no coordination across the entire island chain. Delta also served to highlight the islands' aging power grid, prompting the regional director general of industry and energy to consider building another power plant on the archipelago. The storm sparked a vigorous debate on the island about the effects of global climate change, how they will affect the islands, and how these effects can be avoided.
2005 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, repeatedly shattering numerous records. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with an estimated 3,913 deaths and record damage of about $159.2 billion...
which struck the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
as a strong extratropical storm, causing significant damage and then crossed over Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
before dissipating. It was the twenty-sixth tropical or subtropical storm of the season, making the 2005 season the first to record so many storms.
Tropical Storm Delta, like most late-season storms, developed out of an extratropical low. The storm gradually gained tropical characteristics and was briefly a subtropical storm on November 22. Delta moved erratically for a few days before moving towards the Canary Islands. It became extratropical just before it passed to the north of the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
.
Meteorological history
On November 19, a broad area of eastward moving low pressure formed in the central Atlantic Ocean about 1400 miles (2200 kmKilometre
The kilometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second...
) southwest of the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. It moved steadily eastward through November 20 but on November 21, under the influence of a cold front
Cold front
A cold front is defined as the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, replacing a warmer mass of air.-Development of cold front:The cooler and denser air wedges under the less-dense warmer air, lifting it...
to its north, the low turned northeastward and started to develop central convection. On November 22 the non-tropical low pressure system began to gain some tropical characteristics and its northward motion slowed to a stop. Late that afternoon the low transitioned into a Subtropical Storm
Subtropical cyclone
A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of a tropical and an extratropical cyclone. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were unclear whether they should be characterized as tropical or extratropical cyclones. They were officially recognized by the National...
, while stalled about 800 mi (1,300 km) west-southwest of the Azores. Operationally the National Hurricane Center
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of the National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting weather systems within the tropics between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th...
considered that the storm had already gained enough tropical characteristics to be classified as a tropical storm, but in post-storm analysis this was reconsidered.
The storm's convection organized around a central core, and the system became a tropical storm on November 23 and received the name Delta. An eye-like feature appeared near the storm's circulatory center several time that day. The larger-scale deep-layered cyclonic circulation within which it was embedded steered it on a slow southward and then south-southwesterly track. Strong wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
prevented immediate development and the system added an eastward component to its drift. Moving out of the high-shear environment on November 24, Delta gained organization. Outflow and convective banding increased and an eye feature became well defined. This eye signaled the storm's peak strength of 70 mph (110 km/h), just below hurricane status. However, the official forecast at the time predicted Delta to strengthen further and become a minimal hurricane. Delta's motion stalled as it reached the southern base of a large cyclonic trough over the northern Atlantic within which it was embedded. Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day until, that evening when it began a slow southward drift at 6 mph (9 km/h). Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day Convection broke down in the storm's western semicircle early on November 25; the decreased organization caused slight weakening. Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day The southward motion slowed and the weakening trend continued into the evening. Cooling cold tops were counteracted by wind shear which exposed most of the low-level center. The storm's southward motion stopped and it began moving east at 6 mph (9 km/h). Some of the computer models suggested the weakening tropical storm could be absorbed by a developing low to the west, which a few days later became Hurricane Epsilon. This did not occur, and Tropical Storm Delta began to move to the northeast.
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
Preparations and impact
Tropical Storm Delta's arrival in the Canary Islands was described as a "historic" event. Tropical cyclones there are extremely rare and the islands had no tropical warning systems in place. The government issued a general emergency advisory and advised citizens to stay indoors. Tenerife North Airport was closed, stranding hundreds of passengers for the duration of the storm. The Education Board of the Canary Islands Government suspended Tuesday classes for all non-university schools for 320,000 students. The shipping company Fred Olsen suspended services linking the islands of TenerifeTenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
and La Palma
La Palma
La Palma is the most north-westerly of the Canary Islands. La Palma has an area of 706 km2 making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands...
and La Gomera
La Gomera
La Gomera is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. In area, it is the second-smallest of the seven main islands of this group.- Political organization :...
. On the island of El Hierro
El Hierro
El Hierro, nicknamed Isla del Meridiano , is the smallest and farthest south and west of the Canary Islands , in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a population of 10,162 .- Name :The name El Hierro, although phonetically identical to the Spanish word for 'iron', is generally thought...
the exposed road to Sabinosa Health Center was closed as a precaution.
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
312 million ($364 million 2005 US dollars) damage throughout the archipelago. Eighteen died when a boat sank off the Canary Islands; twelve of the bodies were never found. The nineteenth man was killed when while trying to repair his roof during the storm; winds threw him from his ladder. The islands of Tenerife and La Palma were hardest hit, with many uprooted trees and landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s reported. The peak gust recorded at La Palma was 95 mph (152 km/h), and at Tenerife the maximum gust was 90 mph (147 km/h). Some patients at Tenerife's University Hospital were evacuated to a safer part of the building when paneling from the hospital's heliport
Heliport
A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters. Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars...
was torn free and smashed some of the building's windows. Off Santa Cruz's
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital , second-most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 222,417 in 2009...
southern quay a tug boat broke its ties, collided with another vessel, and sank. Passengers at Tenerife North Airport, who were stranded when their flights canceled, witnessed parts of the new international terminal's roof tear off in the wind. In La Palma a falling palm tree, trunk snapped by the wind, injured the leg of a German tourist. Many palm trees along the Avenida Marítima were also blown down. The storms winds blew out windows and collapsed cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
s, although other structural damage was minimal. Metal plates that had been used to board up buildings were strewn all over the island.
Over 225,000 residents lost electricity and 12,000 lost telephone service. Some vandalism and looting was reported during the loss of power, and the police made several arrests during the night. For over 24 hours roads were closed on the islands of El Hierro, Tenerife and La Palma: the first two due to landslides and the third by the collapse of an old house and a massive tree. One of the most famous geological features of the island of Gran Canaria, El Dedo de Dios
El Dedo de Dios
El Dedo de Dios was a famous rock structure in the Atlantic Ocean, located in the northern part of Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands...
(or God's finger), which had been pointing towards the sky for over a millennium, was destroyed by Delta's wind and wave action along Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands, with a population of 838,397 which constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago...
's shore. Upon hearing of the destruction of the natural monument one man, later found to be clinically insane, unsuccessfully tried to kill himself and then stabbed three members of his own family.
When the remnants of Delta arrived in Morocco they were described as a "normal atmospheric disturbance". No damage was reported there and in fact the system was welcomed by farmers who needed the rain to complete the sowing of cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
crops.
Aftermath
With the Canary Islands' power grid substantially disrupted, the Unelco-Endesa power company was forced to use temporary generators to boost power at sub-stations far from the main grid. In La Corujera in Santa Úrsula, these generators were poorly received and over 1,000 local residents claimed to be affected by the noise and pollution. Children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems suffered most acutely. Roughly €Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
25 million (US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
37.25 million) was allocated by the government of the Canary Islands in relief and reconstruction funds. Of this total, €22.5 million (US$33.5 million) was used to repair infrastructure and utilities; €1.5 million (US$2.2 million) was used for agricultural relief; and €1 million (US$1.5 million) was used in home repairs. Due to the severity of crop losses, farmers would be given a grant from the government that would cover 50% of their losses, including infrastructural. A tax break was also given to most residents who suffered damage from Delta.
Fishermen of the Canary Islands had to return to and remain in port for several days while weathering the storm, and this disruption was blamed for a 10–15% reduction of the islands' tuna catch. Tropical Storm Delta also had some further-reaching effects. The political opposition Popular Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
challenged that the impact of Tropical Storm Delta proved the need for the island to prepare an emergency plan to deal with natural and man-made disasters. Only five of the island's many municipalities had an emergency plan, and there was no coordination across the entire island chain. Delta also served to highlight the islands' aging power grid, prompting the regional director general of industry and energy to consider building another power plant on the archipelago. The storm sparked a vigorous debate on the island about the effects of global climate change, how they will affect the islands, and how these effects can be avoided.
See also
- List of Atlantic hurricanes
- List of storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
- Timeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane seasonTimeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe timeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season documents the formations, strengthenings, weakenings, landfalls, extratropical transitions, and dissipations of the season's tropical and subtropical storms. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in...