Meteorological History of Hurricane Noel - Caribbean Landfalls

Caribbean Landfalls

Upon becoming a tropical cyclone, the wave was moving to the west-northwest under the steering currents of a high pressure area over the western Atlantic Ocean. Six hours after formation, the center became difficult to locate, though subsequently the depression became much better organized; a large area of convection developed over the center, with several rainbands to its south. Based on reports from Hurricane Hunters, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Noel at 1815 UTC on October 28 while located about 150 miles (235 km) south-southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. After the center re-developed beneath the thunderstorms, the storm quickly strengthened to winds of 60 mph (95 km/h), and for several hours the cyclone was drifting to the south of Hispaniola. Noel began to lose organization as a nearby upper-level low increased wind shear, with the circulation becoming ill-defined as it further interacted with the mountainous terrain of Haiti.

The storm crossed western Haiti as a disorganized tropical storm on October 29, and subsequently began moving parallel to the northeastern coast of Cuba while moving around the southwestern periphery of a weakening ridge. On October 30, Tropical Storm Noel made landfall near Gibara, Cuba, with winds of about 60 mph (95 km/h).

The center of Noel remained well-organized as it tracked through eastern Cuba, though its sustained winds quickly diminished to minimal tropical storm force. Early on October 31 it began drifting to the north-northwest, in response to the approach of a short-wave trough from the west and the eastward shift of the mid-level ridge. A large area of strong convective rainbands persisted to its east, though due to increased upper-level wind shear there was little convection near the center. Shortly after 1200 UTC on October 31, Noel emerged off the north coast of Cuba, and subsequently the cyclone became better organized as the circulation became better associated with the convection. While located just off the north coast of Cuba, the motion of Noel was nearly stationary, though forecasters indicated it could have executed a small cyclonic loop. On October 31, the Canadian Hurricane Centre began tracking the storm.