Hurricane Adrian was an early season hurricane which took an unusual southwest to northeast track, bringing it closer to

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

than any other

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

since reliable records began in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

. The first storm of the

2005 Pacific hurricane season The 2005 Pacific hurricane season was a near-average Pacific hurricane season which produced fifteen named storms, seven hurricanes and two major hurricanes. It was also the second consecutive season in which no tropical cyclone of at least trop ...

, Adrian developed on May 17, just two days after the official start of the season, several hundred miles south-southeast of Mexico. Tracking in an atypical northwestward direction, the storm gradually intensified. On May 19, the storm reached its peak strength as a minimal hurricane with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). Not long after reaching this intensity, the storm abruptly weakened. By the morning of May 20, the system had weakened to a minimal tropical storm and turned due west. Later that day, the storm made

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

along the

Gulf of Fonseca The Gulf of Fonseca (; ), a part of the Pacific Ocean, is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The waters of the gulf are shared among all three countries. History Fonseca Bay was discovered by European ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

before dissipating several hours later.

Meteorological history

Hurricane Adrian originated from a

tropical wave A tropical wave (also called easterly wave, tropical easterly wave, and African easterly wave), in and around the Atlantic Ocean, is a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which ...

that moved off the western coast of Africa, near the

Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

in early May 2005. Between May 10 and 14, several areas of disturbed weather moved across Central America, contributing to the development of a broad

area of low pressure In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...

about 520 mi (835 km) south-southeast of

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

, Mexico. On May 15, another tropical wave interacted with the low, resulting in the consolidation of the system. The following day, the developing low was nearly stationary as

convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

increased. Around 11:00 am PDT (1800

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

) on May 17, the

National Hurricane Center The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...

(NHC) estimated that the system developed into a tropical depression, the first of the

. Upon forming, the depression was situated just south of 10°N, making it the 40th known

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

to do so since 1949. Unlike most storms in the eastern Pacific, Tropical Depression One-E tracked towards the northwest in response to a

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

over Mexico.

Tropical cyclone forecast model A tropical cyclone forecast model is a computer program that uses meteorology, meteorological data to weather forecasting, forecast aspects of the future state of tropical cyclones. There are three types of models: statistical, dynamical, or c ...

s at the time anticipated intensification as conditions ahead of the system favored tropical cyclone development. Initially, the system moved at a slow pace of ; however this later increased to . Within six hours of being declared a depression, the cyclone was classified as Tropical Storm Adrian. Over the following days, gradual strengthening took place as Adrian moved through a region of moderate

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

. By May 18, deep convection consolidated around the center of circulation and feeder bands developed along the periphery of the storm. Warm waters, around , ahead of the storm would allow for further strengthening despite wind shear and interaction with the high terrain of Central America. Additionally, some forecasts predicted that Adrian would survive the passage of Central America and enter the Caribbean, possibly becoming the third known storm to cross from the eastern Pacific into the

Atlantic basin The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. By May 19, the storm became relatively disorganized and Adrian only maintained a small area of convection around its center. However, within hours of this disorganization, the system rapidly consolidated and

satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell im ...

depicted the precursor to an

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

forming. Following this, Adrian intensified to a minimal hurricane before attaining its peak intensity around 10:00 am PDT (1700 UTC) on May 19. At this time, the storm was situated about 85 mi (140 km) and had sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) and a

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013.2 ...

of 982 mbar (hPa; 29 inHg). Not long after becoming a hurricane, Adrian suddenly succumbed to persistent wind shear off the coast of

. Operationally, this weakening was not noticed by the NHC, leading to their assessment of the storm making

in El Salvador around 11:00 pm PDT (0600 UTC on May 20) as a

Category 1 hurricane Category 1 can refer to: *Category 1 cable, an electrical standard for communications wiring * Category 1 tropical cyclone, on any of the Tropical cyclone scales * Category 1 pandemic, on the Pandemic Severity Index, an American influenza pandemic ...

on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. In post-storm analysis, it was determined that the center of Adrian never actually crossed the coastline of El Salvador. Rather, convection associated with the system was sheared northward away from the center of circulation. Meteorologists at the NHC stated that Adrian's near-parallel track along the coast of El Salvador contributed to its rapid weakening as well as keeping the low offshore. Later on May 20, the system weakened to a tropical depression and made landfall in

, along the pacific coast, around 1:00 pm PDT (2100 UTC) with winds of 25 mph (35 km/h). Several hours later, Adrian dissipated over the mountains of Central America.

Preparations

In response to the approaching hurricane, officials in

initiated the evacuations of about 3,500 families throughout 13 municipalities. Public facilities, as precautionary measures, were closed. The local governments and citizens were mindful of the damages caused to the region by other hurricanes, namely the 9,000 deaths caused by

Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch was an extremely deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane, which became the second-deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin on record. Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately ...

in 1998. According to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Antonio Saca Elías Antonio "Tony" Saca González (born 9 March 1965) is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from 1 June 2004 to 1 June 2009. He is currently serving a minimum 10-year prison sentence on corruption charges. Early li ...

, roughly 23,000 people evacuated by the storm's arrival. In fears of significant damage, a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

was declared for the entire country, home to roughly 6.5 million people. In nearby Honduras, officials closed schools and public workers were given a half day as a precautionary measure. Small-scale evacuations also took place in parts of Guatemala and Nicaragua. Guatemala also declared a state of maximum alert as heavy rains from Adrian were expected to trigger flooding. Shelters were set up across the country to house roughly 400,000 people at-risk from the storm.

Impact

Adrian had minor effects in Honduras; only a few poorly constructed building were destroyed and minor floods were reported and there were no known fatalities associated with the storm. In

, rains from Adrian led to numerous landslides and flash floods, mainly along coastal areas. Fallen trees were reported throughout the country. The floods prompted officials to shut down roads to keep people out of harm's way. Heavy rains up to 16.4

inch The inch (symbol: in or prime (symbol), ) is a Units of measurement, unit of length in the imperial units, British Imperial and the United States customary units, United States customary System of measurement, systems of measurement. It is eq ...

es (418.6 mm) caused several landslides that damaged roads. Two deaths took place, one due to a plane crash caused by strong winds, the other caused by flooding. In all, damages in El Salvador totaled to $12 million (2005

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

; $ USD). In

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, two people were killed after rains ahead of Adrian caused a ditch to cave in on them. One person was killed due to flooding in Nicaragua.

References

External links

*
NHC's public advisory archive on Hurricane AdrianNHC's Monthly Tropical Weather Summary for May 2005Photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adrian (2005) 2005 Pacific hurricane season Category 1 Pacific hurricanes Hurricanes in El Salvador Hurricanes in Guatemala Hurricanes in Honduras 2005 in El Salvador Tropical cyclones in 2005

Meteorological history

Preparations

Impact

See also

References

External links