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1988 PRELIMINARY
REPORTS
Tropical Storm Alberto (TS) |
a. Synoptic HistoryOn 27 August a westward moving tropical wave emerged from
the African coast. By 31 August, the wave came under the influence of
an upper level low and the most prominent cluster of associated thunderstorms
began moving northwestward. On 1 September, the area of showers and thunderstorms
increased in area coverage due to the interaction of the tropical wave
with the upper level low. The convection moved northward, and a 1016 mb
surface low was analysed just east of Bermuda on the 1800 UTC surface
map on 2 September. By this time the upper low had moved southwestward
and a strong upper level anticyclone became the dominant upper level feature
south of the surface low. Satellite imagery showed a poorly defined low
level circulation exposed on the west side of deep convection, and the
system became a tropical depression at 0000 UTC on 3 September. Under
the influence of southwesterlies aloft, the circulation moved northeastward
at 17 to 23 mph. In spite of the southwesterly shear aloft, however,
the low level circulation became better defined near the edge of the convective
overcast, and based on satellite imagery the system was upgraded to Tropical
Storm Ernesto later on 3 September. Ernesto accelerated northeastward,
with its forward motion reaching 40 to 52 mph on 4 September. By 5 September,
Ernesto lost tropical characterists and was absorbed by a large extratropical
storm over the North Atlantic. b. Meteorological StatisticsTropical storm force winds remained over the open waters
of the Atlantic ocean, although the island of Flores in the Azores reported
near storm force winds of 35 mph as the center of Ernesto passed passed
by over 200 nautical miles to the northwest. c. Casualty and Damage StatisticsThere were no reports of casualties or damage related to Ernesto.
Maximum
Intensity For Tropical Storm Ernesto
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