Tropical Storm Laura was a large but short-lived

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 ...

that developed over the north-central

Atlantic Ocean 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 ...

in late September during the

2008 Atlantic hurricane season The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was the most destructive Atlantic hurricane season since 2005, causing over 1,000 deaths and nearly $50 billion (2008 USD) in damage. The season ranked as the third costliest ever at the time, but ha ...

. Laura's remnants later impacted the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The 12th named storm of the season, Laura formed out of a large

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 ...

area of low pressure 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 ...

located about west of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

on September 29. Laura slowly developed tropical characteristics throughout the day as it moved over warmer waters. On the afternoon of September 30, Laura had acquired enough tropical characteristics to be designated a tropical storm. Shortly after being declared tropical, Laura began to undergo an

transition, which did not fully take place until the morning of October 1. Laura degenerated into a

post-tropical cyclone A post-tropical cyclone is a former tropical cyclone that no longer possesses enough tropical qualities to be considered a tropical cyclone. The word may refer to a former tropical cyclone undergoing extratropical transition or a tropical cyclone ...

later that morning, and the final advisory 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 ...

was issued. The remnants of Laura contributed to heavy rainfall and power outages in the

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, ...

, the

, and

on October 5 to 8.

Meteorological history

On September 26, a very large

developed along a quasi-stationary

frontal system A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For ins ...

a few hundred miles west of the

. The low intensified into the equivalent of a

Category 1 hurricane Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) *Categories (Peirce) *C ...

with winds of at 12:00 UTC on September 27. Over the following days, the low began to lose its frontal features and began to transition into a

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 ...

as it traveled in a general westward direction. By September 29, the low had developed sufficient

convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...

and was declared Subtropical Storm Laura. Upon being upgraded, cold cloud tops began to wrap around the center of Laura and consolidate near the center of circulation. The convection organized around the center quickly and a

satellite pass An orbital pass (or simply pass) is the period in which a spacecraft is above the Horizontal coordinate system, local horizon, and thus available for Line-of-sight propagation, line-of-sight communication with a given ground station, satellite rec ...

over the storm revealed that it could be intensifying. A later satellite pass disregarded the possibility of intensification as the intensity was confirmed to be at . The overall structure of Laura remained subtropical but there were indications that it was acquiring tropical characteristics. During the afternoon, satellites revealed that Laura had developed a deep warm core, a characteristic of a tropical cyclone, but the wind field remained subtropical in nature. By the nighttime hours, the radius of the strongest winds contracted to , much smaller than what is typical of a subtropical cyclone. However, Laura was still under the influence of an

upper-level low A cold-core low, also known as an upper level low or cold-core cyclone, is a cyclone aloft which has an associated cold pool of air residing at high altitude within the Earth's troposphere, without a frontal structure. It is a low pressure syste ...

and cloud tops remained shallow. However, the cloud tops became colder overnight and Laura was on the verge of becoming a tropical cyclone by the morning of September 30, but strong interaction with the upper-level low meant it was still subtropical. Despite moving over colder waters, a water vapor satellite image determined that Laura had separated itself from the upper-level low, signifying it had developed into a tropical cyclone. Laura was re-classified as a tropical storm at a relatively high

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

, 40.6°N. Laura peaked as a tropical cyclone, attaining maximum 1-minute sustained winds of and a minimum

central 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 . Not long after being declared tropical, early signs of an extratropical transition appeared. Cold air began to enter the storm on the west side and forecast models showed Laura becoming extratropical the next morning and non-tropical later the next day. Overnight, convection associated with Laura began to diminish and lose tropical characteristics, but still retained its status. Early on October 1, the

transition was fully apparent. Laura remained tropical but the cloud pattern was becoming frontal and there was little convection around the center of the system. With minimal shower and thunderstorm activity remaining around the center of Laura, the storm degenerated into a remnant-low pressure area on October 1 while still producing tropical storm-force winds. The next day, the remnant system transitioned into an extratropical cyclone and began to re-intensify as it rapidly tracked towards the north. Early on October 3, the system slowed down as it turned towards the east and strengthened into a

hurricane-force The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. History The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufo ...

cyclone, with winds of and a minimum central pressure of , reaching its extratropical peak. After accelerating towards the east, another large extratropical cyclone absorbed the remnants of Laura while located several hundred miles west of the

on October 4.

Impact

As a tropical cyclone, Laura never approached land, and no damages or fatalities occurred. Since the storm remained over open waters for most of its life, several ships and oil platforms recorded tropical storm-force winds. The highest recorded winds were at an oil platform with the call sign ''VEP717'' at 03:00 UTC on October 1. Winds were recorded up to . Despite the lack of impact, the storm's remnants were caught in an upper-level

jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering thermal wind, air currents in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are west ...

, and steered towards

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. There, they contributed to heavy rainfall across portions of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

on October 5, causing localized accumulation of flood waters. As a result, Glebe Road near

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

was closed in both directions, and along the A65 road between Old Hutton and

Kirkby Lonsdale Kirkby Lonsdale () is a town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically in Westmorland, it lies south-east of Kendal on the A65. The parish recorded a population of 1,771 in the 2001 ...

, previously saturated soil, combined with overwhelmed storm drains resulted in localized flooding. Traffic on the

M6 Motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

was slowed due to poor driving conditions. One person had to be rescued from her car after driving into a flooded street. The UK

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

issued 76 flood watches and 21 severe flood warnings as a result of the rainfall. On October 8, the remnants of Laura reached the

. At the time, its rain bands began interacting with 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 ...

associated with a well-developed low west of

, dropping up to of precipitation in the northwestern Netherlands. Consequently, streets and homes in the village of

Hippolytushoef Hippolytushoef, abbreviated locally as Hippo, is a town in the western Netherlands, located in the municipality of Hollands Kroon, North Holland, 14 km east of Den Helder. History The village was first mentioned in 1343 or 1344 as "van Y ...

were reportedly inundated. The large amounts of precipitation broke the daily and monthly rainfall records for October, which were previously set in 2006. Gradually passing through Norway, the remnants of the storm caused significant damage to

electric utilities An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major pr ...

. As a result, more than 10,000 people lost power in southern parts of the country.

References

External links

*The NHC'
Advisory Archive for Laura
*The NHC's {{DEFAULTSORT:Laura 2008 Atlantic hurricane season Laura 2008 Tropical Storm Laura Laura

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

References

External links