Hurricane Fred (2015)

Hurricane Fred (2015)

Fred was the second hurricane and sixth named storm of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season. Fred originated from a well-defined tropical wave over West Africa in late August 2015. It became easternmost tropical cyclone ever in the tropical Atlantic, with a minimum pressure of 986mbar and a maximum sustained winds of 90mph.

About Hurricane Fred (2015) in brief

Summary Hurricane Fred (2015)Fred was the second hurricane and sixth named storm of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season. Fred originated from a well-defined tropical wave over West Africa in late August 2015. Once offshore, the wave moved northwestward within a favorable tropospheric environment and strengthened into a tropical storm on August 30. The following day, Fred grew to a Category 1 hurricane with peak winds of 85 mph as it approached Cape Verde. After passing Boa Vista and moving away from Santo Antão, it entered a phase of steady weakening, dropping below hurricane status by September 1. Fred fluctuated between minimal tropical storm and tropical depression strength through September 4–5 before curving sharply to the north. By September 6, Fred’s circulation pattern had diminished considerably, and the storm dissipated later that day. Fred was the easternmost Atlantic hurricane to form in the tropics and the first to move through Cape Ver de since 1892. Material damage across Cape Verdes totaled US$2. 5 million, though the rain’s overall impact on agriculture was positive and replenishing. Between the coasts of West Africa and Fred, maritime incidents related to Fred resulted in nine deaths. Fred became easternmost tropical cyclone ever in the tropical Atlantic, with a minimum pressure of 986mbar and a maximum sustained winds of 90mph.

It was also among the four easternmost locations for a tropical Storm to form since modern record-keeping began in 1851. The storm developed a thick, circular central dense overcast with good outflow and the eye feature became well established at all levels of the circulation. Fred moved through a region with ample tropical moisture, light upper winds, and above-average sea surface temperatures. It then turned to the west-northwest, enduring increasingly hostile wind shear, but maintained its status as a tropical Cyclone despite repeated forecasts of imminent dissipation. The hurricane traversed the Barlavento Islands, barely skirting the southern coast of Boa Verde, skirting southern air-norter over the next 12 hours. Fred dissipated on September 7, with winds decreasing gradually in definition, decreasing in definition and decreasing in intensity. It became a tropical depression on September 8, with sustained winds of 35 mph and a low-level circulation center near Guinea’s coastline. On September 9, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Fred while 390 mi east-southeast of Praia, Cape Verde. It later weakened to tropical Storm Fred, centered 165mi east-east-1, east-southwest of Sal, and then upgraded again to a tropical Cyclone. The cyclone was the fourth named storm in the Atlantic Ocean this year.