The 1982 Atlantic hurricane season was an extremely inactive

Atlantic hurricane season The Atlantic hurricane season is the period in a year from June through November when tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic Ocean, referred to in North American countries as hurricanes, tropical storms, or tropical depressions. In addition ...

with five named

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s and one

subtropical storm A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical and an extratropical cyclone. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as tropical or extratropical cyclo ...

. Two storms became hurricanes, one of which reached major hurricane status. The season officially began on June 1, 1982, and lasted until November 30, 1982. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s form in the

Atlantic basin The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

. Activity started early with Hurricane Alberto forming on the first day of the season. Alberto threatened the Southwestern Florida coast as a tropical storm, meadering offshore in the southeastern

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and causing 23 fatalities in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. The next system, a

, formed later in June and affected the same area as Alberto, causing $10 million in damage. Tropical Storm Beryl formed on August 28, after a quiet July in the open Atlantic Ocean. Beryl grazed

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, killing 3 people. Tropical Depression Three formed just behind Beryl, tracking east and north of the Caribbean sea in early September. Soon after the dissipation of Beryl, Tropical Storm Chris formed in the

on September 9. Chris stayed a weak storm, making landfall near Sabine Pass, Texas, and dissipating over land on September 13. Hurricane Debby was the next storm and the strongest of the season. The formative stage of Debby produced rainfall in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and soon strengthened into a Category 4 Major Hurricane. Debby passed by

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

on September 18 and merged with a non-tropical low on September 20. In mid-September, Tropical Depression Six formed west of Africa, and tracked west-northwest, dissipating before reaching the Leeward Islands on September 20. Its remnant thunderstorm activity continued moving west-northwest, forming Tropical Depression Seven which moved near Bermuda on September 25 before dissipating offshore Nova Scotia. The final storm of the season, Tropical Storm Ernesto, was the shortest-lasting system and stayed out to sea, dissipating on October 2.

Season summary

The season was very inactive because of strong vertical

wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...

due to stronger than normal westerly winds aloft. The wind shear was contributed by a variety of factors including a very strong

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date L ...

. Vertical wind shear was strong enough to disrupt convection in areas of disturbed weather so they could not develop further. The

which affected this hurricane season extended into the

1983 Atlantic hurricane season The 1983 Atlantic hurricane season was the least active Atlantic hurricane season since 1930. The season officially began on June 1, 1983, and lasted until November 30, 1983. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most ...

. Higher than average values of African

mineral dust Mineral dust is atmospheric aerosol originated from the suspension of minerals constituting the soil, composed of various oxides and carbonates. Human activities lead to 30% of the airborne dust load in the atmosphere. The Sahara Desert is th ...

during the most active portion of the hurricane season could have also suppressed tropical cyclone activity. The season's activity was reflected with a cumulative

accumulated cyclone energy Accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) is a metric used by various agencies to express the energy released by a tropical cyclone during its lifetime. It is calculating by summing the square of a tropical cyclone's maximum sustained winds, measured ever ...

(ACE) rating of 32, which is classified as "below normal". ACE is, broadly speaking, a measure of the power of the hurricane multiplied by the length of time it existed, so storms that last a long time, as well as particularly strong hurricanes, have high ACEs. ACE is only calculated for full advisories on tropical systems at or exceeding 34

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

(39 mph, 63 km/h) or tropical storm strength. Although officially,

subtropical cyclone A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical cyclone, tropical and an extratropical cyclone. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as Tropical cyclo ...

s are excluded from the total, the figure above includes periods when fully tropical storms were in a subtropical phase.

Systems

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Alberto Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albertin ...

(C1)" from:18/06/1982 till:20/06/1982 color:TS text:"

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

(SS)" from:28/08/1982 till:06/09/1982 color:TS text:"Beryl (TS)" from:06/09/1982 till:09/09/1982 color:TD text:"Three (TD)" from:09/09/1982 till:12/09/1982 color:TS text:"

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

(TS)" from:13/09/1982 till:20/09/1982 color:C4 text:" Debby (C4)" from:16/09/1982 till:20/09/1982 color:TD text:"Six (TD)" barset:break from:25/09/1982 till:27/09/1982 color:TD text:"Seven (TD)" from:30/09/1982 till:03/10/1982 color:TS text:"Ernesto (TS)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/06/1982 till:01/07/1982 text:June from:01/07/1982 till:01/08/1982 text:July from:01/08/1982 till:01/09/1982 text:August from:01/09/1982 till:01/10/1982 text:September from:01/10/1982 till:01/11/1982 text:October TextData = pos:(570,30) text:"(From the" pos:(617,30) text:" Saffir-Simpson scale)"

Hurricane Alberto

On June 1, a tropical depression formed off western

from an organized cloud system. It moved slowly northeastward through the

, and strengthened into Tropical Storm Alberto on June 3. Alberto traveled generally northeast on an erratic course, and briefly intensified to a Category 1 hurricane, one of the earliest hurricanes of June, and the earliest date for a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean since

Hurricane Alma The name Alma has been used to name 11 tropical cyclones worldwide: 5 in the North Atlantic Ocean, 5 in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and 1 in the Western Pacific Ocean. In the Atlantic: * Tropical Storm Alma (1958), made landfall in northeastern Mexi ...

in May 1970. Due to strengthening vertical

, Alberto then quickly weakened into a tropical storm, doubled back to the west, and dissipated near the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

on June 6. Alberto is an example of a storm to enter the Gulf of Mexico and dissipating while never making landfall, which is an unusual event. Though the storm never made landfall, 23 deaths were reported in Cuba from significant flooding, the worst in 32 years. Southern Florida experienced moderate rainfall, with a peak of occurring in Tavernier.

Subtropical Storm One

The first

of the season formed in the east-central Gulf of Mexico on June 18, and moved northeast for its entire life cycle. It crossed the Florida peninsula that night, causing the issuance of numerous severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. The

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

also dropped heavy rainfall, peaking at eight miles (13 km) southwest of

DeSoto County, Florida DeSoto County is a county located at the tropical/humid subtropical line which means the Florida Heartland, central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,976. Its county seat is Arcadia. DeSoto Co ...

. The storm continued, crossing the

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and retained its strength until June 20 when it became

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 ...

near Newfoundland. The cyclone caused three deaths in Florida, sank a

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate Trawling, fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing ...

off the coast of North Carolina, and caused $10 million in damage (1982 USD). This was the only subtropical or tropical cyclone to impact the Eastern seaboard this season.David M. Roth (2009)
CLIQR tropical cyclone database.

Hydrometeorological Prediction Center The Weather Prediction Center (WPC), located in College Park, Maryland, is one of nine service centers under the umbrella of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), a part of the National Weather Service (NWS), which in turn is p ...

. Retrieved on October 28, 2008.

Tropical Storm Beryl

A well-developed

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 ...

exited Africa on August 27. The next day, it developed into a tropical depression, and shortly thereafter it intensified into Tropical Storm Beryl. On August 29, it passed just south of

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

as it continued intensifying on its west-northwest track. An eye feature appeared in the convection on August 31, suggesting winds of near hurricane status; since the feature was located on the western side of the deep convection and the storm was slightly asymmetric, the intensity was held just below hurricane status. Shortly after, strong

caused the storm to deteriorate, leaving the low-level circulation exposed on the western side. Beryl weakened to a tropical depression the next day due to the lack of convection, and it continued westward without redevelopment. On September 5, a reconnaissance flight into the depression found winds of ; this was deemed unrepresentative of the actual intensity as it was recorded in a

squall line A squall line, or more accurately a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), is a line of thunderstorms, often forming along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front (which often are accompa ...

. The depression became disorganized once more and by September 6, it was no longer identifiable on satellites. Early in its duration, Tropical Storm Beryl produced heavy rainfall and gusty winds on the Cape Verde island of Sal. The storm caused moderate damage across the archipelago, totaling $3 million (1982 USD). The passage of Beryl resulted in three casualties in Brava Island, as well as 122 injuries. In the period after the storm's passage, the United States provided humanitarian aid and economic assistance to the country, helping the archipelago to reverse the effects of Beryl.

Tropical Depression Three

This system formed east of the Lesser Antilles on September 6 to the southeast of Tropical Storm Beryl in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean. The depression moved northeast of the Leeward Islands during the afternoon of September 7 while experiencing southwest vertical

, and moved into the southwest North Atlantic before dissipating east of the Bahamas on September 9.

Tropical Storm Chris

A surface

low-pressure area In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...

developed on September 8 in the

. It drifted westward, and the next day it organized into a

subtropical depression A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical and an extratropical cyclone. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as tropical or extratropical cyclon ...

. Under the influence of a

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

of low pressure, the depression turned northward, and after steadily becoming better organized it transitioned into Tropical Storm Chris by late on September 10. The storm attained peak winds of before moving ashore near

Sabine Pass Sabine Pass is the natural outlet of Sabine Lake into the Gulf of Mexico. It borders Jefferson County, Texas, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana. History Civil War Two major battles occurred here during the American Civil War, known as the First and ...

in Texas. Chris continued inland until it dissipated over central

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

on September 13. Prior to making landfall, as many as 6,500 people evacuated from southern Louisiana, while offshore many oil workers were evacuated inland. Chris produced moderate rainfall along its path, peaking at in

Delhi, Louisiana Delhi (), originally called Deerfield, is a town in Richland Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,622. History During the American Civil War, Delhi and Monroe, the seat of Ouachita Pa ...

, with totals of over in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The rainfall caused locally severe flooding as far inland as Tennessee and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, with flooding of some rivers reported. The storm spawned nine tornadoes, of which four were F2 or stronger on the

Fujita scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

. Upon moving ashore, the hurricane produced a to

storm tide A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the no ...

, resulting in severe damage to several boats in the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout its path, damage totaled $2 million (1982 USD).

Hurricane Debby

moved westward offshore the coast of Africa. The wave traveled across the Atlantic, and organized into a tropical depression off the northern coast of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

on September 13. The depression turned north and strengthened into Tropical Storm Debby on September 14 and then a hurricane early the next day. Debby moved north-northeast, pass just east of

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. Debby continued strengthening as it moved north, peaking as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h). The storm weakened significantly before passing to the southeast of

on September 18, by which time Debby was a Category 2. The storm accelerated and began weakening over the colder waters of the north Atlantic. Debby became extratropical over the far north Atlantic and merged with a strong non-tropical system which was developing over

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

on September 20. The precursor disturbance to Debby dropped heavy rainfall across

, peaking at in the southwestern portion of the island. Wind gusts on Bermuda approached 70 mph (110 km/h), leaving minor damage. Debby had little effect on

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

, outside of heavy rainfall. Tropical storm-force winds were also recorded at

Cape Race Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", mea ...

. A storm development related to Debby left two dead in Finland.

Tropical Depression Six

This tropical depression formed west of the Cape Verde Islands on September 16, and moved west-northwest across the tropical Atlantic Ocean. The system moved within east of the Leeward Islands before dissipating on September 20.

Tropical Depression Seven

The remnant area of disturbed weather from Tropical Depression Six continued moving west-northwest into the southwest north Atlantic. A tropical depression formed from this area west of Bermuda on September 25. The system recurved off the north and northeast, dissipating in north Atlantic shipping lanes southeast of Nova Scotia on September 27.

Tropical Storm Ernesto

A tropical wave emerged into the Atlantic from the west coast of Africa on September 23. The west side of the wave expanded and was designated Tropical Depression Eight on September 30. The depression intensified, making a sharp turn on October 1. A reconnaissance flight found winds with a pressure of and the depression was given the name Ernesto. A second reconnaissance flight on October 1 recorded sustained winds of with a pressure of . However, on October 2, Ernesto rapidly weakened and by the next day, the cyclone became unidentifiable after merging with an extratropical low. Ernesto never approached land and caused no reported damage.

Storm names

The following names were used for tropical storms that formed in the north Atlantic in 1982. This is the first time this name set was used since the post-1978 naming change, except for Florence and Helene which had been previously used in 1954, 1958, 1960, and 1964. Names that were not assigned are marked in . No names were retired after this season, so all were used again in the 1988 season.

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 ...

(2009)
Retired Hurricane Names Since 1954.
Retrieved on June 8, 2009.

Season effects

This is a table of the storms in 1982 and their landfall(s), if any. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but are still storm-related. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical or a wave or low. , - ,

, , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 hurricane , , , , , ,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, , , , , , , - ,

, , , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , ,

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, , , , , , , - , Beryl , , , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , ,

Cape Verde Islands , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, , , , , , , - , Three , , , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , None , , , , , , , - ,

, , , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , ,

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, , , , , , , - , Debby , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 4 hurricane , , , , , ,

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, , , , , , , - , Six , , , , bgcolor=#, , , , , Unknown , , None , , , , , , , - , Seven , , , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , None , , , , , , , - , Ernesto , , , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , , , , , -

References

External links

Monthly Weather Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:1982 Atlantic Hurricane Season Atlantic hurricane seasons Articles which contain graphical timelines 1982 ATL