Tropical Storm Ana was the first named storm of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. A pre-season storm, it developed initially as a

subtropical cyclone A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical cyclone, tropical and extratropical cyclones. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as Tropical cyclone ...

from a non-tropical low on April 20 to the west of

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. It tracked east-southeastward and organized, and on April 21 it transitioned into a tropical cyclone with peak winds of . Tropical Storm Ana turned east-northeastward, steadily weakening due to wind shear and an approaching

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...

, and on April 24 it became an

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

. The storm brushed Bermuda with light rain, and its remnants produced precipitation in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Swells generated by the storm capsized a boat along the

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

coastline, causing two fatalities.

Meteorological history

Ana was the earliest

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

tropical storm 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 lo ...

to form in an Atlantic hurricane season since

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

. It developed from a non-tropical

low pressure area 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 ...

that formed about south-southwest of

on April 18 through the interaction of an upper-level

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 ...

and a surface frontal

. The trough, which extended from the gale center to

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

, brought a plume of moisture northward from the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

into the circulation, which caused heavy rainfall in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. The non-tropical low tracked generally northward, with a

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

to its east and west, and on April 19 the system began producing sporadic convection near its center; early that day, satellite imagery indicated the presence of a tight inner core of winds. After turning to the northwest, it looped southeastward and gradually became separated from the surface frontal system, due to the deepening of the upper-level trough over the system. Convection became better organized over the center, and it is estimated the system developed into Subtropical Storm Ana early on April 20 while located about west of Bermuda. Operationally, the

was not classified by 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 ...

until 21 hours later. The subtropical storm tracked east-southeastward and continued to organize, and by late on April 20 an upper-level warm core was present over the system. Based on its organization, Ana is estimated to have become a tropical storm by 0000

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 April 21. Upon becoming a tropical storm, Ana attained a peak intensity of , which was based on estimates from the Hebert-Poteat technique and data from QuikSCAT. Shortly thereafter, it made its closest point of approach to Bermuda, when it passed about southwest of the island. Operationally, the cyclone was first classified by the National Hurricane Center around this time, when it was considered a subtropical cyclone. Strong upper-level

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 ...

removed much of the convection, though a small area of thunderstorms persisted near the center. The storm became completely separated from the upper-level system, and the cyclone re-organized, developing an eye feature late on April 21. Embedded within the flow of a cyclone to its north, Ana continued eastward, and early on April 22 the wind shear again removed the convection from the center. Convection waxed and waned throughout the day, and by April 23 the circulation had deteriorated in organization. After turning to the northeast, the circulation center merged with an approaching

on April 24, and Tropical Storm Ana completed the transition into an

. The extratropical storm accelerated east-northeastward before losing its identity within the frontal zone on April 27 southeast of the

Impact

Prior to the development of Ana, the government of

issued a gale warning for the island. Upon its classification by the National Hurricane Center, a tropical storm warning was issued for Bermuda. Meandering near the island for several days while developing, the storm dropped of precipitation in a six-day period at the Bermuda International Airport. Winds on the island did not reach tropical storm force. Swells from the storm impacted the coast of

. The combination of the swells and an outgoing tide caused a boat to capsize in Jupiter Inlet on April 20; two of its occupants drowned, and the other two were rescued. As an extratropical storm, the remnants of Ana dropped of precipitation in the city of

Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,2 ...

in the

. Moisture from the remnants of Ana also produced beneficial rainfall in the

. Two ships recorded tropical storm force winds in association with Ana; the ''Atlantic Forest'' recorded and a pressure of 998 mbar on April 22, and the ''Rosa Delmas'' reported winds of on April 23.

References

External links

* {{Good article Ana Ana (2003) Ana (2003) Ana (2003) Ana (2003) Ana (2003) Ana (2003) Ana

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

References

External links