Tropical storm Rene (SSHWS) | |
Duration | September 7 – September 14 |
---|---|
Peak intensity | 50 mph (85 km/h) (1-min) 1000 mbar (hPa) |
On September 3, the NHC noted the possibility of another tropical wave to develop into a tropical depression.[252] On September 6, the wave emerged off the coast of Africa and subsequently began to rapidly organize, and at 09:00 UTC on September 7, it was upgraded to Tropical Depression Eighteen roughly halfway between Africa and Cabo Verde.[253] The depression strengthened just east of Cabo Verde, becoming Tropical Storm Rene just twelve hours later.[254] Rene became the earliest 17th named Atlantic storm, breaking the previous record set by Hurricane Rita in 2005 by 11 days.[255] Three hours later, Rene made landfall on Boa Vista Island with 1-minute sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) and a pressure of 1001 mbars (29.56 inHg).[256] Although the storm lost some organization while moving through the Cabo Verde Islands, it remained a minimal tropical storm before it weakened to a tropical depression at 03:00 UTC on September 9.[257][258] The system restrengthened to a tropical storm twelve hours later while continuing to fight easterly wind shear.[259] It strengthened further, and attained its peak intensity with 1-minute sustained winds reaching 50 mph and the minimum central pressure dropping to 1000 mbars (29.53 inHg) at 15:00 UTC on September 10.[260] However, the continued effects of dry air and some easterly wind shear weakened the storm again 12 hours later.[261] As the storm continued west-northwestard, dry air eventually caused its convection to become sporadic and disorganized, and Rene was downgraded to a tropical depression at 15:00 UTC on September 12.[262] Bursts of deep convection allowed it to maintain tropical depression status for two more days before it began to rapidly unravel on September 14[263] and degenerated into a remnant low at 21:00 UTC the same day.[264] The low continued to move generally westward over the next two days.[265][266][267] It opened up into a surface trough at 17:30 UTC on September 16.[268]
A tropical storm warning was issued for the Cabo Verde Islands when advisory were first issued on the storm at 09:00 UTC on September 7.[253] Rene produced gusty winds and heavy rains across the islands, but no serious damage was reported.[269] The warning was discontinued at 21:00 UTC on September 8.[270]