HURRICANE SEASON OF 1998 IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC

«HERMINE»

September 17^th-20^th

It formed in the afternoon of the 17^th over the Northwest portion of the Gulf of Mexico in an extensive area of low pressures coming from the Northeast of the Caribbean Sea that had caused abundant rainfall over the province of Pinar del Río. This tropical depression characterized by showing a wide central region with its center located in the early hours of the next day South-southwest of its place of origin and by a cloud pattern that didn’t match those of classic tropical organisms.

It kept an erratic movement until daybreak in the 19^th when it started heading between North and North-northeast. That day in the morning it classified as the eighth tropical storm of the season though its sheared cloud pattern didn’t match this category.

In a highly sheared hostile environment Hermine finally entered land near New Orleans in the early hours of the 20^th and was degraded to depression early in the morning, dissipating later. Its maximum intensity was reached in the evening of the 19^th with 74 km/h and a central pressure of 999 hPa. It caused no deaths or significant damages.

«IVAN»