The centers of only two tropical cyclones (Tropical Depression Two and Tropical Storm Bonnie) made landfall on the coastline of the United States, both with minimal overall impacts.
However, four tropical cyclones (Alex, Bonnie, Earl and Hermine) brought tropical storm conditions and other hazards to some portions of the U.S., while major hurricanes Danielle, Earl and Igor caused deadly rip currents and waves along the U.S. east coast.
Read Story: Full report on 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Deep South Texas
Alex came ashore on the evening of June 30 as a Category 2 hurricane, centered about 110 miles south of Brownsville.
It brought sustained winds of tropical storm force, and some hurricane-force gusts, to the Brownsville and South Padre Island areas.
Hurricane Alex | ||
NRL�?”?�?� (click for track history) | | Dates of activity: June 25 - July 1 Landfall: June 30 in Soto La Marina, Mexico Peak strength: Category 2; 105 mph winds; 947 mb Notable impacts: Intense hurricane for June; 30 inches of rain near Monterrey, Mexico; Rio Grande flooding Related: Life Cycle of Alex, Flooding in Monterrey, Mexico |
Some tree damage and power outages occurred because of winds and tornadoes. A storm tide of about 4 feet occurred near the mouth of the Rio Grande at Port Isabel, causing a portion of Highway 100 on South Padre Island to close.
Most of Deep South Texas received 4-8 inches of rain, with about 10 inches falling in a few localized spots. Many area roads were flooded and closed.
Hurricane Alex Rain Totals (June 29 - July 6, 2010)
Credit: hpc.ncep.noaa.gov
Credit: hpc.ncep.noaa.gov
Even more impactful for Texas, however, was the extreme rainfall from the remnants of Alex over tributaries to the Rio Grande just on the Mexico side of the border, where radar estimated totals in excess of 20 inches.
These rains subsequently caused flooding along the Rio Grande, on both the Mexico and Texas sides, including at Laredo, Texas, where the river level peaked on July 8-9 at above 42 feet, where major flood stage is 30 feet.
Numerous communities in the Laredo area were evacuated and many structures were inundated.
The center of Tropical Storm Hermine made landfall on the coast of northeastern Mexico about 40 miles south of Brownsville on the evening of Sept. 6 (Labor Day in the United States).
It crossed the border into Texas around midnight that night, still as a strong tropical storm, and remained a tropical storm for another 16 hours until it passed San Antonio.
In addition to the swath of wind damage and power outages it caused in the Brownsville area, Hermine and its remnants dumped huge amounts of rain in large portions of Texas and Oklahoma, with some spots receiving well over a foot.
Hermine also spawned tornadoes that caused structural damages in the Dallas area. Hermine and its remnants resulted in at least eight fatalities in the U.S., primarily because of flooding.
Tropical Storm Hermine Rain Totals (Sept. 3 - 11, 2010)
Credit: hpc.ncep.noaa.gov
Credit: hpc.ncep.noaa.gov
East Coast
The center of Earl, when it was a Category 2 hurricane, passed within just 85 miles east of the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Sept. 3. That area experienced tropical storm conditions that included gusts of 70-80 mph, causing some downed trees and power outages.
Hurricane Earl | ||
NOAA/CIMSS (click for track history) | | Dates of activity: Aug. 25-Sept. 4 Landfall: Sept. 4 near Western Head, Nova Scotia Peak strength: Category 4, 145 mph, 928 mb; strongest Atlantic hurricane since Dean (2007) Notable impacts: Storm surge flood on Anegada in British Virgin Islands. Storm surge up to 4.7 feet, gusts up to 83 mph in Outer Banks. Up to 5-7 inches rain in coastal Massachusetts. Gusts to 54 mph at Nantucket. 200,000-plus without power in Nova Scotia. Related: Earl's damage, Earl's evolution |
A storm surge of 2-6 feet from the Pamlico Sound side of the Outer Banks caused inundation of North Carolina's Highway 12 and damage to dozens of structures.
Even though the three major hurricanes over the Atlantic Ocean this year did not make landfall in the United States, Danielle, Earl and Igor combined to cause at least six fatalities and hundreds of rescues along the U.S. East Coast because of rip currents and dangerous waves.
Although not directly associated with Tropical Storm Nicole, the larger atmospheric flow pattern in place at the time brought tremendous amounts of moisture up the U.S. East Coast at the very end of September and caused widespread flooding in several mid-Atlantic and northeastern states.
Gulf of Mexico
Because of the same atmospheric steering patterns that kept systems away from the continental United States, no strong tropical cyclones passed directly over the area of the oil disaster in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.
Even though the center of Hurricane Alex in June remained over the southwestern Gulf, it had a very large circulation and large waves disrupted operations in the BP well spill area.
The threats of Tropical Storm Bonnie and Tropical Depression Five, both of which were weaker than forecast when they traversed the northeastern Gulf, also prompted operations in the area to cease for a few days.
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