Hurricane Lili

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Hurricane Lili

Category 4 hurricane (SSHS)
Hurricane Lili at peak intensity
Formed	September 21, 2002
Dissipated	October 6, 2002
Highest winds	145 mph (230 km/h) (1-minute sustained)
Lowest pressure	938 mbar (hPa; 27.71 inHg)
Fatalities	14 direct, 2 indirect
Damage	$882 million (2002 USD) $989.22 million (2006 USD)
Areas affected	Windward Islands, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Louisiana
Part of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Lili was a powerful hurricane during the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season that caused damage across the Caribbean and into Louisiana. The storm was initially categorized as a tropical depression on September 21, and made its final landfall on October 3. Lili was responsible for 14 direct deaths and large amounts of property damage.

Contents 1 Storm history 1.1 Observation 2 Impact 2.1 East Caribbean 2.2 Cuba 2.3 United States 2.4 Retirement 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Storm history

Lili formed as a tropical depression on September 21 about 900 nm east of the Windward Islands. The depression moved rapidly westward. As it crossed the Windward Islands on September 23rd, it became a tropical storm of 50 mph, and quickly strengthened to just below hurricane strength as it passed the islands on the 24th. However, it's quick development was short-lived, and Lili weakened to a minimal tropical storm later that night. By September 26th, Lili had opened up into a tropical wave, but the National Hurricane Center forecast quick re-generation.

The forecasts were correct as just 12 hours later on September 26th, the remnants of Lili began to regenerate in the Central Caribbean Sea. On September 27th, Tropical Storm Lili began circling around the south side of Jamaica, dumping heavy rain on the island and nearby Haiti. The intensity of Tropical Storm Lili only increased to about 50 mph as it neared within 100 miles of the Jamaica coast. Lili spent September 28th and 29th moving in an arch from the just off the east coast of Jamaica to just off the north coast, then resuming a westerly track towards Cuba late on the 29th.

On September 30th, Lili became the fourth hurricane of the 2002 Hurricane Season, and battered the Cayman Islands and continued strengthening. By October 1st, Hurricane Lili had intensified into a minimal Category Two hurricane with winds of 100 mph. It struck the Isle of Youth and mainland Western Cuba with 100 mph winds, and continued into the Gulf of Mexico.

After leaving Cuba, Lili moved into the Gulf of Mexico on October 2nd. The forecasts called for Lili to reach Category Three or "Major Hurricane" status before striking somewhere between the Upper Texas coast or the middle Louisiana coast, putting emphasis on the middle Louisiana coast. By late Afternoon, Hurricane Lili's winds had increased the storm from a 110 mph Category Two, to a 140 mph Category Four. This put Louisiana in the bullseye of an extreme hurricane rather than a moderate one. Hurricane Lili continued to strengthen as it pushed faster towards the Louisiana coast. By the early morning of October 3rd, Lili had winds of 145 mph, and was expected to strike land as atleast a Category Three storm. However, instead of making landfall as an intense hurricane, Lili weakened almost instantly, dropping to a Category 1 storm in the ten hours before landfall. It was the most dramatic weakening since Hurricane Ethel in 1960 dropped from Category 5 to Category 1 in six hours (Although Ethel's intensity may have been greatly overestimated as weather equiptment was less reliable in 1961). This drop surprised forecasters at the National Hurricane Center, who had been predicting that Lili would make landfall as atleast a Category Three hurricane. It crossed the coastline near Intracoastal City, Louisiana with winds of 90 mph, and it caused a storm surge in excess of 10 ft along the coast.

[edit] Observation

Lili was a well-observed hurricane at its final landfall in Louisiana, as three mobile radars were deployed to the area of predicted landfall, including the National Severe Storms Laboratory's SMART Radar. These high-resolution systems complemented NOAA's fixed NEXRAD radars in Lake Charles and New Orleans. Several instrumented towers were also deployed in the path of the hurricane to provide other measurements.

[edit] Impact

Deaths and damage by region

Region	Deaths		Damage (2002 USD)
	Direct	Indirect
St. Vincent	5		?
Jamaica	4		?
Haiti	4		?
Cuba	1		?
United States		2	$860 million
Total	14[1]	2[1]	$860+ million

Lili killed sixteen people (fourteen of them through the direct effects of the storm) and left at least $860 million dollars in damage (2002 USD, $945 million 2006 USD). Lili also broke a two year hiatus of U.S. landfalling hurricanes.

[edit] East Caribbean

Four people were killed in St. Vincent and there was flood damage in Barbados and St. Lucia[1] Agricultural damage in St. Vincent totaled to around $15 million (2002 USD, $40 million 2002 XCD). St. Lucia experienced $7.6 million in damage (2002 USD, $20.3 million 2002 XCD), while damage in Barbados amounted to around $100,000 (2002 USD, $200,000 2002 BBD).[2] In Jamaica, Lili heavy rains brought flashflooding that killed four people and caused extensive damage to homes and buildings that were already weakened by Hurricane Isidore weeks earlier.[3]

[edit] Cuba

Hurricane Lili made landfall near Pinar del Rio on October 1. According to the Cuban Red Cross, about 50,000 homes were ether damaged or destroyed.[4] The Pinar del Rio and Isle of Youth was hardest hit. 60% of the water supply was disrupted, and most of the tobacco, rice and food stocks was significantly affected by the storm.[5] There was only one death. ^[1]

[edit] United States

Lili approached Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane but weakened to a Category 1 when it made landfall. However, the storm still did considerable damage to sugar cane fields, homes and businesses. The surge caused many levees to fail along the southeastern coast of Louisiana, and disrupted oil production. There were two indirect deaths from the storm. The damage total from Hurricane Lili was $860 million dollars (2002 USD, $945 million 2006 USD), of which $30 million (2002 USD, $33 million 2006 USD) was in Mississippi and the rest in Louisiana.^[1] Lili passed through eastern Arkansas as a weakening tropical depression, dropping light rain of around 1 inch.^[2]

[edit] Retirement

See also: List of retired Atlantic hurricanes

The name Lili was retired in the spring of 2003 and will never again be used in the Atlantic basin. It was replaced with Laura for the 2008 season.^[3] The names Lucy and Lisette were also suggested as possible replacement names for Lili.^[4]

[edit] See also

• List of notable tropical cyclones
• List of notable Atlantic hurricanes

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Hurricane Lili Tropical Cyclone Report
2. ^ Hurricane Lili Rainfall Totals
3. ^ World Meteorological Organization (2004). Final Report of the 2003 Hurricane Season. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
4. ^ World Meteorological Organization (2004). Replacement Names for 2003 Atlantic Hurricanes (Fabian, Isabel, and Juan) and 2002 Hurricane Lili (DOC). Retrieved on 2007-02-11.

[edit] External links

• National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Report on Hurricane Lili
• National Hurricane Center advisory archive for Hurricane Lili