Noel is gone; Atlantic is quiet

All is quiet in the tropical Atlantic. The near-tropical depression that moved ashore last night over Nicaragua has dumped about 6 inches of rain over northeastern Nicaragua and Honduras. Disturbed weather continues in this region and over the adjacent ocean areas, but the activity has died down considerably since yesterday, and is not a threat to develop. None of the reliable computer models show any tropical cyclone development in the Atlantic over the next week. Wind shear is expected to be high over the entire tropical Atlantic, except for the extreme southern Caribbean near Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

'Noreaster Noel
'Noreaster Noel whipped up some very impressive winds and waves over the weekend, and I have a few more stats to share on the storm. For Canada, here are some of the peak wind reports:

St. Paul Island: 62 mph gusting to 79 mph
Hart Island: 51 mph gusting 75 mph
Halifax Airport (20 kilometers inland): 58 gusting 70 mph.
Grand Etang, Cape Breton: 63 gusting 89 mph, though this is partly a local phenomenon, caused by amplification by the topography of the Cape Breton Highlands.

The peak waves at the Georgian Bank buoy 44011 were 45.6 feet. These were 6 feet higher than those measured during the famed "Perfect Storm" of October 1991. Noel's waves were the highest recorded at the buoy since the on-line record begins in 1984.

Thanks go to Peter Watson for the wind stats and Margie Kieper for the wave stats.

Wunderphotographer Mike Theiss was in Nova Scotia for the storm, and plans on posting his usual fantastic photos later today or Tuesday.

Jeff Masters