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Hurricane Cora (1978)
Encyclopedia
Hurricane Cora was the first tropical cyclone
of the 1978 Atlantic hurricane season
to reach hurricane
strength. Forming from a disturbance that exited the African coast on August 7, the storm moved at an unusually high forward speed for a cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean in August. The storm later reached hurricane strength and formed a well-defined eye that lasted only 12 hours before the eye rapidly lost organization for unknown reasons, though the post-season report on the storm mentions the possibility that its high speed caused the eye to dissipate. The storm moved west-southwestward, weakening before making landfall
on the island of Grenada
. The storm lost its circulation and became a tropical wave
on August 12. The remnant crossed over Central America into the Pacific Ocean, where it reintensified, becoming Hurricane Kristy
.
Cora was an unusual cyclone, maintaining an unusually low latitude for the Atlantic in August at high speeds, similar to the tracks of Tropical Storm Alma in 1974 and Tropical Storm Fran in 1990. The hurricane was also upgraded into a hurricane based solely on satellite photography, the second time this occurred. Although it passed through the Windward Islands
and the Lesser Antilles
, only minor effects were reported. Cora was also responsible for altering weather conditions allowing for a takeoff
of the historical flight
of the Double Eagle II
hot air balloon.
at a forward speed of roughly 20 mi/h, the disturbance showed no signs of development until a cloud mass broke away from the ITCZ on August 6. The separated mass began rapidly organizing, becoming Tropical Depression Three late on August 7. The tropical depression continued to gain organization and was upgraded to a tropical storm on August 8, receiving the name Cora.
The newly named tropical storm continued to grow, reaching hurricane strength later that day after developing a well-defined eye
, peaking early on August 9 with 90 mi/h winds, a minimum pressure of 980 mbar
, and gale–force winds extending 100 mi (160.9 km) from the center. The hurricane began to shift into a west-southwest track while moving at 23 mi/h. The hurricane would continue in this direction throughout its lifespan. Only 12 hours after forming, the eye rapidly dissipated on satellite imagery for unknown reasons, although the hurricane's high forward speed may have played a part. After becoming disorganized, a Hurricane Hunter aircraft—the first one to fly in the storm—reported that the cyclone had winds of only 65 mi/h, the highest winds recorded in the storm. After the report, Cora was downgraded into a tropical storm early on August 10. The dissipating storm continued on, striking the island of Grenada
on August 11 as it weakened into a tropical depression. On August 12, the depression weakened into a tropical wave near Aruba
due to continental influence despite atmospheric conditions being favorable for development. The wave was notable in that it was almost completely devoid of any cloudiness or convection. The remnants of Cora crossed Central America and uneventfully continued westward until August 18, when its remains contributed to the formation of Hurricane Kristy.
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While passing through the Lesser Antilles
, reports of squalls with wind speeds of 45 mi/h were received from St. Lucia and Barbados
. Rain was also reported, but totals were not large due to the storm's quick passage. One death was attributed to Cora on St. Lucia when a 22–year old stepped on a high tension power line that was downed by the winds from the storm in Castries
. In addition, an industry on the island reported tree losses of two to four percent from the storm. No reports of damage were received from the other Windward Islands
and damage on Grenada, if any, is unknown. Although it remained far to the south, Hurricane Cora affected weather conditions that reached as far north as Presque Isle, Maine
, where balloonists Ben Abruzzo
, Maxie Anderson
, and Larry Newman were preparing to make the first ever transatlantic balloon flight on the Double Eagle II
. The winds created by Cora's influence would give the hot air balloon the northerly push required for takeoff according to Anderson. After six days, the Double Eagle II completed the flight, landing near Miserey, France
. Cora also affected another record attempt when swimmer Diana Nyad
was delayed due to the hurricane's influence. The planned marathon swimming
record attempt was for her to swim from Cuba to Florida, a total of 103 mi (165.8 km). The record attempt ultimately failed after 42 hours.
According to the preliminary report on the hurricane, neither track forecasts or intensity forecasts panned out for the storm. The track forecasts called for a path more northward than the actual track whereas following the development of the eye, intensity forecasts called for further strengthening until it became clear the cyclone was weakening. When it was upgraded to a hurricane on August 8, Cora became the second hurricane to have been upgraded to that intensity based solely on satellite presentation after 1975's
Hurricane Doris. The hurricane was also the second of three storms in the season to reform or be reclassified as East Pacific
storms. The other two were Tropical Storm Bess (which became Hurricane Iva), and Hurricane Greta-Olivia
. Of these, only Greta maintained its circulation over land. This was the only time an Atlantic hurricane was named Cora.
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
of the 1978 Atlantic hurricane season
1978 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1978 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1978, and lasted until November 30, 1978. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin...
to reach hurricane
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
The Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale , or the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , classifies hurricanes — Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms — into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds...
strength. Forming from a disturbance that exited the African coast on August 7, the storm moved at an unusually high forward speed for a cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean in August. The storm later reached hurricane strength and formed a well-defined eye that lasted only 12 hours before the eye rapidly lost organization for unknown reasons, though the post-season report on the storm mentions the possibility that its high speed caused the eye to dissipate. The storm moved west-southwestward, weakening before making landfall
Landfall (meteorology)
Landfall is the event of a tropical cyclone or a waterspout coming onto land after being over water. When a waterspout makes landfall it is reclassified as a tornado, which can then cause damage inland...
on the island of Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
. The storm lost its circulation and became a tropical wave
Tropical wave
Tropical waves, easterly waves, or tropical easterly waves, also known as African easterly waves in the Atlantic region, are a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which move from east to west across the tropics causing areas of...
on August 12. The remnant crossed over Central America into the Pacific Ocean, where it reintensified, becoming Hurricane Kristy
1978 Pacific hurricane season
The 1978 Pacific hurricane season officially began May 15, 1978, in the eastern Pacific, June 1, 1978 in the central Pacific, and officially ended 30 November 1978. These dates conventionally delimit the period of time when tropical cyclones form in the eastern north Pacific Ocean.Activity this...
.
Cora was an unusual cyclone, maintaining an unusually low latitude for the Atlantic in August at high speeds, similar to the tracks of Tropical Storm Alma in 1974 and Tropical Storm Fran in 1990. The hurricane was also upgraded into a hurricane based solely on satellite photography, the second time this occurred. Although it passed through the Windward Islands
Windward Islands
The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...
and the Lesser Antilles
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...
, only minor effects were reported. Cora was also responsible for altering weather conditions allowing for a takeoff
Takeoff
Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle goes from the ground to flying in the air.For horizontal takeoff aircraft this usually involves starting with a transition from moving along the ground on a runway. For balloons, helicopters and some specialized fixed-wing aircraft , no...
of the historical flight
Transatlantic flight
Transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. A transatlantic flight may proceed east-to-west, originating in Europe or Africa and terminating in North America or South America, or it may go in the reverse direction, west-to-east...
of the Double Eagle II
Double Eagle II
Double Eagle II, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman, became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed 17 August 1978 in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours 6 minutes after leaving Presque Isle, Maine....
hot air balloon.
Meteorological history
In early August, a disturbance was observed in satellite images moving off the coast of Africa on August 4. Moving westward along the Intertropical Convergence ZoneIntertropical Convergence Zone
The Intertropical Convergence Zone , known by sailors as The Doldrums, is the area encircling the earth near the equator where winds originating in the northern and southern hemispheres come together....
at a forward speed of roughly 20 mi/h, the disturbance showed no signs of development until a cloud mass broke away from the ITCZ on August 6. The separated mass began rapidly organizing, becoming Tropical Depression Three late on August 7. The tropical depression continued to gain organization and was upgraded to a tropical storm on August 8, receiving the name Cora.
The newly named tropical storm continued to grow, reaching hurricane strength later that day after developing a well-defined eye
Eye (cyclone)
The eye is a region of mostly calm weather found at the center of strong tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area and typically 30–65 km in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the second most severe weather of a cyclone...
, peaking early on August 9 with 90 mi/h winds, a minimum pressure of 980 mbar
Bar (unit)
The bar is a unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Other units derived from the bar are the megabar , kilobar , decibar , centibar , and millibar...
, and gale–force winds extending 100 mi (160.9 km) from the center. The hurricane began to shift into a west-southwest track while moving at 23 mi/h. The hurricane would continue in this direction throughout its lifespan. Only 12 hours after forming, the eye rapidly dissipated on satellite imagery for unknown reasons, although the hurricane's high forward speed may have played a part. After becoming disorganized, a Hurricane Hunter aircraft—the first one to fly in the storm—reported that the cyclone had winds of only 65 mi/h, the highest winds recorded in the storm. After the report, Cora was downgraded into a tropical storm early on August 10. The dissipating storm continued on, striking the island of Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
on August 11 as it weakened into a tropical depression. On August 12, the depression weakened into a tropical wave near Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
due to continental influence despite atmospheric conditions being favorable for development. The wave was notable in that it was almost completely devoid of any cloudiness or convection. The remnants of Cora crossed Central America and uneventfully continued westward until August 18, when its remains contributed to the formation of Hurricane Kristy.
Impact, Records, and Naming
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...
, reports of squalls with wind speeds of 45 mi/h were received from St. Lucia and Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. Rain was also reported, but totals were not large due to the storm's quick passage. One death was attributed to Cora on St. Lucia when a 22–year old stepped on a high tension power line that was downed by the winds from the storm in Castries
Castries
Castries , population 10,634, aggl. 37,963 , is the capital city of Saint Lucia, a country in the Caribbean. The district with the same name had a population of 61,341 in 2001-05-22, and stretches over an area of ....
. In addition, an industry on the island reported tree losses of two to four percent from the storm. No reports of damage were received from the other Windward Islands
Windward Islands
The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...
and damage on Grenada, if any, is unknown. Although it remained far to the south, Hurricane Cora affected weather conditions that reached as far north as Presque Isle, Maine
Presque Isle, Maine
Presque Isle is the commercial center and largest city in the sparsely populated Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,692 at the 2010 census...
, where balloonists Ben Abruzzo
Ben Abruzzo
Benjamin L. Abruzzo was an American hot air balloonist and businessman. He helped increase the reputation of Albuquerque as a center of lighter-than-air and hot-air ballooning.-Biography:...
, Maxie Anderson
Maxie Anderson
Max Leroy Anderson was an American hot air balloonist and businessman. He helped place Albuquerque on the map as the balloon capital of the world...
, and Larry Newman were preparing to make the first ever transatlantic balloon flight on the Double Eagle II
Double Eagle II
Double Eagle II, piloted by Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman, became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it landed 17 August 1978 in Miserey near Paris, 137 hours 6 minutes after leaving Presque Isle, Maine....
. The winds created by Cora's influence would give the hot air balloon the northerly push required for takeoff according to Anderson. After six days, the Double Eagle II completed the flight, landing near Miserey, France
Miserey
Miserey is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:...
. Cora also affected another record attempt when swimmer Diana Nyad
Diana Nyad
Diana Nyad is an American author, journalist, and long-distance swimmer noted for her world-record endurance championships....
was delayed due to the hurricane's influence. The planned marathon swimming
Marathon swimming
Marathon swimming, or ultra-long-distance swimming, is a class of open water swimming. Unlike the use of the term for foot-races where the distance is well-defined, the distance of a marathon swim varies from event to event. Tides, surface currents and wind-chop are major determinants of...
record attempt was for her to swim from Cuba to Florida, a total of 103 mi (165.8 km). The record attempt ultimately failed after 42 hours.
According to the preliminary report on the hurricane, neither track forecasts or intensity forecasts panned out for the storm. The track forecasts called for a path more northward than the actual track whereas following the development of the eye, intensity forecasts called for further strengthening until it became clear the cyclone was weakening. When it was upgraded to a hurricane on August 8, Cora became the second hurricane to have been upgraded to that intensity based solely on satellite presentation after 1975's
1975 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1975 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1975, and lasted until November 30, 1975. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin...
Hurricane Doris. The hurricane was also the second of three storms in the season to reform or be reclassified as East Pacific
Tropical cyclone basins
Traditionally, areas of tropical cyclone formation are divided into seven basins. These include the north Atlantic Ocean, the eastern and western parts of the northern Pacific Ocean, the southwestern Pacific, the southwestern and southeastern Indian Oceans, and the northern Indian Ocean. The...
storms. The other two were Tropical Storm Bess (which became Hurricane Iva), and Hurricane Greta-Olivia
Hurricane Greta-Olivia
Hurricane Greta–Olivia was a Category 4 hurricane that crossed over Central America, changing names upon reaching the Eastern Pacific during the 1978 Atlantic hurricane season and 1978 Pacific hurricane season. Striking Honduras on the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Fifi, the Greta threatened to...
. Of these, only Greta maintained its circulation over land. This was the only time an Atlantic hurricane was named Cora.
See also
- Other storms of the same name