Hurricane Helene (2006)

Hurricane Helene was the ninth tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and strongest hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season.

Helene was a long-lived Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed in the extreme southeastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean, peaking as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale as it traversed the central Atlantic. It never affected land until the very end of its lifespan as a weak extratropical system, which had minor impact in the northern British Isles.

Meteorological history

In the second week of September, a strong tropical wave began to emerge off the coast of Africa. It was well-organized from the start, and on September 11, even before it emerged off the coast, the National Hurricane Center believed that it could quickly develop into a tropical depression. That is indeed what happened, and it became Tropical Depression Eight on the morning of September 12. The enormous size of the depression made it fairly slow to develop, combined with some easterly wind shear in the eastern Atlantic and influence of the Saharan Air Layer to the north as it tracked south of the Cape Verde islands. Convection was also slow to build in, with little banding at first. The initial strengthening was delayed as a result. However, on September 13, the organization improved as banding became better defined, and that evening, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Helene.

Tropical Storm Helene

The name Helene has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean:

The name Helene was also used for one tropical cyclone in the Western Pacific:

The name Helene was also used for one tropical cyclone in the Southwest Indian Ocean:

The name should not be confused with Helena, which was used for a tropical storm during the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season, or Typhoon Helen (1972), which was used for a typhoon during the 1972 Pacific typhoon season.

1988 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1988 Atlantic hurricane season was a moderately active season that proved costly and deadly, with 15 tropical cyclones directly affecting land. The season officially began on June 1, 1988, and lasted until November 30, 1988, although activity began on May 30 when a tropical depression developed in the Caribbean Sea. The June through November dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. The first cyclone to attain tropical storm status was Alberto on August 8, nearly a month later than usual. The final storm of the year, Tropical Storm Keith, became extratropical on November 24.

The season produced 19 tropical depressions of which 12 attained tropical storm status. One tropical storm was operationally classified as a tropical depression but was reclassified in post-analysis. Five tropical cyclones reached hurricane status of which three became major hurricanes reaching Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

Hurricane Helene (1958)

Hurricane Helene was the most intense tropical cyclone of the 1958 Atlantic hurricane season, as measured by minimum barometric pressure. The eighth tropical storm and fourth hurricane of the year, Helene was formed from a tropical wave east of the Lesser Antilles on September 21, 1958. Moving steadily westward, the storm slowly intensified, attaining hurricane strength on September 24. As conditions became increasingly favorable for tropical cyclone development, Helene began to rapidly intensify. Nearing the United States East Coast, the hurricane quickly attained Category 4 intensity on September 26, before it subsequently reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph (215 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 934 mbar (hPa; 27.84 inHg). The intense hurricane came within 10 mi (15 km) of Cape Fear, North Carolina before recurving out to sea. Accelerating northward, Helene gradually weakened, and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone as it passed over Newfoundland on September 29. Helene's extratropical remnants traversed eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean before dissipating near Great Britain on October 4.