Hurricane Jose (2017)

Hurricane Jose

Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Jose at peak intensity near the Leeward Islands on September 8
Formed	September 5, 2017
Dissipated	Currently active
(Extratropical after September 21)
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 155 mph (250 km/h)
Lowest pressure	938 mbar (hPa); 27.7 inHg
Fatalities	None
Damage	Minimal
Areas affected	Leeward Islands, Bahamas, Bermuda, East Coast of the United States
Part of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Jose was an erratic, powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone that caused minimal damage across its entire lifespan. It was the tenth named storm, fifth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. On August 31, a tropical wave left the west coast of Africa and developed into a tropical storm six days later. A period of rapid intensification ensued on September 6, when Jose reached hurricane intensity. On September 8, it reached its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane.

Initially projected to impact the Antilles already affected by Hurricane Irma, Jose brought tropical storm force winds to a catastrophically damaged and evacuated Barbuda before changing path. This was the first and so far only time in Atlantic history that two active hurricanes simultaneously had recorded wind speeds of at least 150 miles per hour (240 km/h). On September 14, Jose was downgraded to a tropical storm. A day later, Jose was upgraded to a hurricane after a plane from the 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the U.S. Air Force flew into it and determined that its wind speed was 65 knots, above the minimum required for it to be a hurricane. On September 19, the storm was once again downgraded to tropical storm status. Jose is the longest-lived storm of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season and the longest-lived Atlantic storm since Hurricane Nadine in 2012.

A westward-moving tropical wave exited the west coast of Africa on August 31. The wave passed south of Cape Verde on September 2 with disorganized thunderstorms. However, environmental conditions favored gradual development, which prompted the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to start tracking the system. By early September 5, the system had become more organized and was producing winds of tropical storm force. Later that day, satellite imagery indicated a well-defined center had formed, surrounded by deep convection and banding features. On that basis, the NHC designated the system Tropical Storm Jose at 15:00 UTC on September 5 about 1,505 mi (2,420 km) east of the Lesser Antilles.