News

Mitch originated as a tropical storm over the southwestern Caribbean Sea on October 22, 1998, and quickly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane by the 26th, with a central pressure of 905 mb. It remains the second-strongest October hurricane on record and is tied for the eighth most-intense Atlantic hurricane overall.

After making landfall in Honduras as a weakened Category 1 hurricane, Mitch wreaked havoc on the offshore islands with powerful winds, large waves, and storm surge. However, the most significant impact came from the heavy rainfall, leading to severe flooding in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. This resulted in thousands of deaths, missing individuals, and extensive damage to property, infrastructure, and crops throughout Central America.

Once Mitch moved back into the Gulf of Mexico, it headed towards Florida and made another landfall as a tropical storm. The storm claimed two lives in the Florida Keys when a fishing boat capsized, causing an additional million in damage to the state.

By the time Mitch was declared extratropical on November 5, it had become the second-deadliest Atlantic tropical cyclone in history, surpassed only by the 1780 “Great Hurricane” in the Lesser Antilles. With at least 10,000 confirmed deaths and countless individuals still missing, the majority of the casualties were a result of the extensive flooding caused by Mitch’s rainfall in Central America.

However, amidst the devastation, there was a positive outcome. In response to this tragic event, the U.S. government collaborated with the governments and national meteorological agencies in the region to install a satellite receiver in Costa Rica. This receiver was made accessible to all Central American countries via the internet, providing them with critical weather data and imagery.

Later, in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization, NOAA NESDIS expanded the network, known as GEONETCast Americas, allowing countries in the Americas to access real-time satellite-based weather data from NOAA’s GOES and JPSS systems.

The images below, taken by NOAA satellites during Hurricane Mitch, captivate its destructive power in the Atlantic Basin. Please note that all imagery is open source and can be repurposed with proper credit to NOAA.

The post Mitch: A Devastating Hurricane in Central America appeared first on satProviders.