Hurricane Tanya was the first named storm to start with a "T" in the Atlantic since naming began in 1950, and the final storm of the very active
1995 Atlantic hurricane season. The twenty-first tropical cyclone, nineteenth named storm, and eleventh hurricane of the season, Tanya developed from a tropical wave while well north of the
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...
on October 26. The system headed northeastward and strengthened into Tropical Storm Tanya on October 27. Tanya meandered around the central Atlantic, and further intensified into a hurricane on October 29. Thereafter, Tanya tracked northeastward before curving to the east-northeast. After switching to an eastward direction, Tanya weakened to a tropical storm on November 1. Later that day, Tanya passed through the
Azores
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as it was transitioning into an extratropical cyclone.
Throughout the Azores, the extratropical remnants of Tanya produced high winds. As a result, extensive property damage occurred, which included destroyed or damaged houses, and sunken boats; there were also reports of significant damage to agriculture. However, an exact damage toll figure in unknown. In addition, there was one fatality and several injuries.
Meteorological history
The origins of Hurricane Tanya were from a
tropical wave
A tropical wave (also called easterly wave, tropical easterly wave, and African easterly wave), in and around the Atlantic Ocean, is a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which ...
that moved off the western coast of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
in the middle of October. The wave closely followed the path of
Tropical Storm Sebastien and was unable to develop in the tropical Atlantic as it moved westward. The system did not begin to become organized until October 25 while south-southeast of
Bermuda
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. However, the
Dvorak technique
The Dvorak technique (developed between 1969 and 1984 by Vernon Dvorak) is a widely used system to estimate tropical cyclone intensity (which includes tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane/typhoon/intense tropical cyclone intensitie ...
was still unable to classify the system until October 26 as the low-cloud swirl became better organized while moving northward in the central Atlantic. That evening, a closed circulation had formed, and it was classified as Tropical Depression Twenty-One by the
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 3 ...
. On the morning of October 27, it strengthened into a tropical storm, becoming the 19th as well as the final named storm of the season.
Operationally, it was not declared a tropical cyclone until that point, when it was immediately declared Tropical Storm Tanya.
Immediately after becoming a tropical storm, the movement of Tanya became hindered by a nearby upper-level low, and it quickly turned eastward before virtually stalling early on October 28.
The upper-level low also influenced Tanya in giving it some
subtropical characteristics, including a
comma
The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark () in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline ...
-shaped cloud band and maximum winds far from the center of the storm at the time.
Despite that, the storm gradually strengthened as it remained over warm waters of about 81 °F (27 °C).
That afternoon, it gained full tropical characteristics, as an
eye featured was beginning to form in the
central dense overcast
The central dense overcast, or CDO, of a tropical cyclone or strong subtropical cyclone is the large central area of thunderstorms surrounding its circulation center, caused by the formation of its eyewall. It can be round, angular, oval, or irr ...
.
The eye became clearly defined, although it was small in size. Early on October 29, Tropical Storm Tanya was upgraded to a hurricane, the eleventh of the 1995 season, as it turned northward in response to the nearby low.
Later on October 29, while slowly tracking north, Tanya leveled off as a low-end
Category 1 hurricane. By the next morning, a
cold front
A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Norther ...
to the west forced Tanya to accelerate in a more easterly track .
It remained fairly well organized with a distinct eye as it became wedged in a narrow zone of warm air between the cold front to the west and the upper-level low to the northeast.
Despite slightly cooler water, Tanya strengthened a bit more that afternoon, reaching its peak intensity of 85 mph (135 km/h) with a
barometric pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...
of as the forward speed increased.
That intensity was maintained until late on October 31, when Tanya began to weaken as it traveled over cooler waters and the eye became obscured.
Early on November 1, Tanya began to lose tropical characteristics while still a hurricane. Hurricane Tanya was also heading rapidly northeast towards the
Azores
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at the time.
Tanya was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm on November 1. Despite weakening, the wind field of Tanya became larger.
That evening, Tanya was declared fully
extratropical
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...
as it passed the Azores.
The remnant cyclone turned north, before being absorbed by another extratropical cyclone early on November 3.
Impact, naming and records
![Tanya 1995-10-30 1700Z](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Tanya_1995-10-30_1700Z.jpg)
Hurricane Tanya was not considered a threat to land, as it did not move through the Azores while a tropical cyclone.
The Azores were hit very hard by the storm, which had just been declared extratropical when it hit the region.
Damage was particularly severe on the islands of
Faial,
Pico
Pico may refer to:
Places The Moon
* Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin
Portugal
* Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde
* Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribeir ...
,
Terceira
Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 53,311 inhabitants in an area of approximately . It is the location ...
and
São Jorge. Extensive property damage was reported, including many capsized
boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically found on inl ...
s and several damaged or destroyed homes. Significant agricultural damage also occurred there. Many trees and power lines were knocked down, cutting
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
and hampering
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
s in the area. The highest wind gusts reported in the Azores were around 105 mph (170 km/h). After the storm, a resolution was submitted to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
by the Government of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and a
disaster area
A disaster area is a region or a locale that has been heavily damaged by either natural, technological or social hazards. Disaster areas affect the population living in the community by dramatic increase in expense, loss of energy, food and serv ...
was declared in the islands.
One
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
fisherman drowned and several people were injured.
There were many reports of tropical storm-force winds from ships in the north Atlantic. One ship, with the call sign GBSA, encountered Tanya's winds twice and reported the strongest winds from any ship, 71 mph (112 km/h).
Hurricane Tanya was the first tropical cyclone to be designated a name starting with the letter "T" since naming of Atlantic tropical cyclones began in 1950. There have been five subsequent T-named Atlantic tropical storms:
Tammy in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
,
Tomas Tomas may refer to:
People
* Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name
* Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name
* Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name
* Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian su ...
in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
,
Tony
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
in
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
Teddy
Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to:
People Nickname
* Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator
* Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer
* Tedd ...
in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, and
Teresa
Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name.
It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or re ...
in
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
.
See also
*
Other storms of the same name
*
List of Azores hurricanes
The Azores, an autonomous regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, has experienced the effects of at least 21 Atlantic hurricanes, or storms that were once tropical or subtropical cyclones. The most re ...
References
External links
* NHC'
Preliminary Reporton Hurricane Tanya
{{Good article
Tanya
Tanya may refer to:
* Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
* Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name
* Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946)
* List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...
Tanya (1995)
Tanya (1995)