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A 'Cape Verde-type hurricane' is an Atlantic hurricane that develops near the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. The average hurricane season has about two Cape Verde-type hurricanes, which are usually the most intense storms of the season because they often have plenty of warm open ocean over which to develop before encountering land.

Contents

Origin

Typical tracks

Major Cape Verde-type hurricanes

See also

External links

Origin

Cape Verde-type hurricanes typically develop from tropical waves which form in the African savanna during the wet season, then move into the African steppes. The disturbances move off the western coast of Africa and become tropical storms or tropical cyclones near the Cape Verde Islands, usually in August or September.

Typical tracks

A typical Cape Verde hurricane will form as a tropical depression just south of the Cape Verde islands. They normally reach hurricane strength in the mid-Atlantic, but sometimes will strengthen closer to Cape Verde or the Caribbean.
Once it begins approaching North America, a Cape Verde hurricane has several basic tracks.

★ It can continue to the west, and if it is far enough south, it will cross the Lesser Antilles into the Caribbean Sea. From there it will often continue westward into Nicaragua, Honduras, or Belize.

★ If the storm is further north, it can travel up the Greater Antilles and into the U.S. Gulf Coast. In 1998, Hurricane Georges took a track of this nature. Slightly further north, and the storm will track through the Bahamas and into Florida in the manner of 1992's Hurricane Andrew.

★ A more northerly storm will begin to have its track affected by the high pressure that generally occurs over the eastern Atlantic in late summer. As these storms pass north of the Antilles, their tracks begin to curve to the north. Often this results in the storms making landfall in North or South Carolina. Hurricane Hugo was a typical example. If the storm's track is affected significantly, it will often curve back out to sea, where it becomes extratropical over cooler water. An example of such was Hurricane Edouard in 1996.

★ Sometimes, the subtropical ridge is farther west than usual such that the storm is driven around the east side of the ridge in the central Atlantic, generally missing land completely. An example of such was Hurricane Danielle in 2004.
Note that while these tracks are typical, Cape Verde hurricanes are not bound to follow them and often do not.
Because this type of hurricane takes a near-westward path that starts in the eastern Atlantic, they can avoid the two situations that typically end the life of a tropical cyclone: interaction with land, and movement over cool water. Since they can go for several weeks without having either affect them, Cape Verde-type hurricanes are some of the longest-lived storms. Hurricane Faith, the third longest lasting Atlantic hurricane on record, was a Cape Verde hurricane. It lasted 16 days total and was a hurricane for 13.

Major Cape Verde-type hurricanes

The category is the peak intensity of the hurricane, measured on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

Year	Name	Category
1899	1899 Hurricane San Ciriaco	4
1900	Galveston Hurricane of 1900	4
1926	1926 Miami Hurricane	4
1928	1928 Okeechobee Hurricane	5
1938	New England Hurricane of 1938, or the ''Long Island Express''	5
1947	1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane	5
1957	Hurricane Carrie	4
1958	Hurricane Cleo	5
1960	Hurricane Donna	5
1966	Hurricane Faith	3
1966	Hurricane Inez	4
1979	Hurricane David	5
1980	Hurricane Allen	5
1985	Hurricane Gloria	4
1988	Hurricane Gilbert	5
1989	Hurricane Hugo	5
1992	Hurricane Andrew	5
1995	Hurricane Luis	4
1996	Hurricane Bertha	3
1996	Hurricane Fran	3
1998	Hurricane Bonnie	3
1998	Hurricane Georges	4
1999	Hurricane Floyd	4
2000	Hurricane Alberto	3
2001	Hurricane Felix	3
2002	Hurricane Lili	4
2003	Hurricane Fabian	4
2003	Hurricane Isabel	5
2004	Hurricane Frances	4
2004	Hurricane Ivan	5
2004	Hurricane Karl	4
2005	Hurricane Emily	5
2005	Hurricane Maria	3
2006	Hurricane Helene	3
2007	Hurricane Dean	5

See also

★ List of Atlantic hurricane seasons

★ List of notable tropical cyclones

External links

★ NOAA AOML Hurricane Research Division definition of a Cape Verde-type hurricane

★ Talks about hurricanes in general and Cape Verde hurricanes