Hurricane Fades Into Extratropical Storm, But Not Before Becoming Largest Atlantic Storm Ever And Hammering Newfoundland

The tropics are going through a bit of a transition period right now. A very strong dip in the jet stream in the Eastern Atlantic is hindering development off Africa as perhaps we’ve seen an end of the Cape Verde season. However, we still do have Tropical Storm Lisa as well as a disturbance that is trying to get organized in the Caribbean. The Caribbean feature will be one worth watching in the coming days. In the meantime though, we would like to give a wrap up on Hurricane Igor, which finally left the scene within the past 24 hours.

Igor, the most powerful system to date in the Atlantic this season, became the largest hurricane of all time with a diameter of 1,040 miles wide. The previous mark was set by Hurricane Olga back in 2001 with 863 miles. The largest tropical cyclone ever in the world was Typhoon Tip with 1,380 miles. Tip is also the strongest storm ever recorded with 870 millibars, or 25.69 inches of Hg (Mercury) for a minimum central pressure and winds sustained at 190 miles per hour back in October 1979. At the time of the last advisory, hurricane force winds extended some 85 miles from the eye while tropical storm force winds extended some 520 miles. Igor passed just to the west of Bermuda lashing the tiny resort island in the Western Atlantic with 75 mile per hour winds late Sunday night.

The vast system kept going, and actually gained strength on Monday with maximum sustained winds climbing back to 80 miles per hour while barometric pressure dipped to 950 millibars, or 28.05 inches of Hg. The transition to an extratropical system provided additional energy that helped made the storm more powerful. Gusts up to hurricane force were reported over portions of the Canadian Maritime province of Newfoundland, which was hit quite hard by the storm. Winds gusted to 96 miles per hour with flooding rains. Some roads were completely washed out. Trees were uprooted. Small buildings such as sheds were blown down while traffic lights swayed in the wind.