Hurricane Lenny
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Hurricane Lenny, also known as Wrong-Way Lenny, was a hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season.
Hurricane Lenny was unusual in several respects. First, it developed extremely late in the season, forming as a tropical depression on November 13, 1999 just south of the Cayman Islands. Second, Lenny traversed the Caribbean from west to east and southeast, the reverse of typical hurricane paths. It was the first time such a trajectory had been seen in 113 years of hurricane observations in the Atlantic/Caribbean basin. Finally, Lenny was the fifth Category 4 hurricane of the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season, breaking the record for the number of storms of that strength in one season.
By November 15, Lenny had intensified to hurricane strength and was just south of Jamaica. It weakened slightly before strengthening to its maximum of 135 knots and 933 millibars central pressure just as it made landfall on the south coast of Saint Croix on November 17.
As a weakening but slowly moving storm, Lenny made landfall at Saint Martin, Anguilla, Saint-Barthélemy, and Antigua on November 18 and November 19. On each of these islands and on Dominica, which it did not strike directly, Lenny caused extensive storm surge damage on the west coasts, the side that had never before borne the brunt of a landfalling hurricane. Hurricane Lenny was a very rainy storm; dropping thirty-four inches of rain on Saint Martin and lesser amounts on the other Leeward Islands. Lenny damaged coastal properties and piled numerous boats on land. In all 17 deaths were attributed to Hurricane Lenny.
Lenny weakened to a tropical depression in the open Atlantic on November 21 and dissipated on November 23.
See also
External links
- National Hurricane Center Preliminary Report on Lenny (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1999lenny.html)
- Hurricane Lenny's trajectory (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/prelims/1999lenny1.gif)
