Tropical Storm Delta (2005)
| Tropical Storm (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Tropical Storm Delta near peak intensity
|
|
| Formed | November 22, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | November 30, 2005 |
| (Extratropical after November 28) | |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 70 mph (110 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 980 mbar (hPa); 28.94 inHg |
| Fatalities | 7 direct, 12 missing |
| Damage | $364 million (2005 USD) |
| Areas affected | Canary Islands, Morocco, Algeria, Parts of North Africa, Mediterranean Sea |
| Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Tropical Storm Delta was a late-forming tropical storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season which struck the Canary Islands as a strong extratropical storm, causing significant damage and then crossed over Morocco before dissipating. It was the twenty-sixth tropical or subtropical storm of the season, making the 2005 season the first to record so many storms.
Tropical Storm Delta, like most late-season storms, developed out of an extratropical low. The storm gradually gained tropical characteristics and was briefly a subtropical storm on November 22. Delta moved erratically for a few days before moving towards the Canary Islands. It became extratropical just before it passed to the north of the archipelago.
On November 19, a broad area of eastward-moving low pressure formed in the central Atlantic Ocean about 1400 miles (2200 km) southwest of the Azores. It moved steadily eastward through November 20, but on November 21, under the influence of a cold front to its north, the low turned northeastward and started to develop central convection. On November 22, the non-tropical low pressure system began to gain some tropical characteristics, and its northward motion slowed to a stop. Late that afternoon, the low transitioned into a subtropical storm while stalled about 800 mi (1,300 km) west-southwest of the Azores. Operationally, the National Hurricane Center considered that the storm had already gained enough tropical characteristics to be classified as a tropical storm, but in post-storm analysis, this was reconsidered.
The storm's convection organized around a central core, and the system became a tropical storm on November 23 and received the name Delta. An eye-like feature appeared near the storm's circulatory center several times that day. The larger-scale deep-layered cyclonic circulation within which it was embedded steered it on a slow southward and then south-southwesterly track. Strong wind shear prevented immediate development and the system added an eastward component to its drift. Moving out of the high-shear environment on November 24, Delta gained organization. Outflow and convective banding increased and an eye feature became well defined. This eye signaled the storm's peak strength of 70 mph (110 km/h), just below hurricane status. However, the official forecast at the time predicted Delta to strengthen further and become a minimal hurricane. Delta's motion stalled as it reached the southern base of a large cyclonic trough over the northern Atlantic within which it was embedded. Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day until, that evening when it began a slow southward drift at 6 mph (9 km/h). Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day Convection broke down in the storm's western semicircle early on November 25; the decreased organization caused slight weakening. Maintaining its intensity, Delta remained motionless for half a day The southward motion slowed and the weakening trend continued into the evening. Cooling cold tops were counteracted by wind shear which exposed most of the low-level center. The storm's southward motion stopped and it began moving east at 6 mph (9 km/h). Some of the computer models suggested the weakening tropical storm could be absorbed by a developing low to the west, which a few days later became Hurricane Epsilon. This did not occur, and Tropical Storm Delta began to move to the northeast.
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