Hurricane Erika was the strongest and longest-lasting tropical cyclone in the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season. It developed from a tropical wave on September 3 and moved west-northwestward across the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Erika quickly strengthened to become the only major hurricane of the season, reaching maximum sustained winds of 125 mph on September 8. It became extratropical after passing near the Azores archipelago on September 16.
About Hurricane Erika (1997) in brief
Hurricane Erika was the strongest and longest-lasting tropical cyclone in the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season. It developed from a tropical wave on September 3 and moved west-northwestward across the tropical Atlantic Ocean, steadily intensifying until it attained hurricane status on September 4. Erika quickly strengthened to become the only major hurricane of the season, reaching maximum sustained winds of 125 mph on September 8. The hurricane produced light rainfall and winds throughout the northern Lesser Antilles, and carried a cloud of volcanic ash to Antigua from the eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat. It also produced beach erosion and coastal flooding in northern Puerto Rico, and caused the death of two surfers. It became extratropical after passing near the Azores archipelago on September 16. The storm dissipated on September 19 about 230 miles southwest of Ireland. It was the first occurrence of such an event in a hurricane season since 1929, and the first in the Atlantic Ocean in the months of August and September since 1950.
It left USD 10 million in damage in the U.S. and Caribbean territories, and left thousands of residents without power, and resulted in the government of Saint Martin issuing a tropical storm warning in response to Erika’s threat to the islands. In response to the storm’s threat, the governments of the respective governments of Montigua, Barbuda, Barbados, and Saint Martin issued tropical storm warnings on September 2 and 3. The next day, Saint Martin and Barbuda issued tropical storms warnings for the next three days. The warnings were lifted on September 5, and on September 6, and Erika weakened to a tropical depression before dissipating on September 7. It is the only hurricane to have made landfall in the United States in the last 50 years.
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This page is based on the article Hurricane Erika (1997) published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 11, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
