Tropical Storm Andres is one of only three

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 ...

s on record to strike

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 ...

. The first named storm of the active

1997 Pacific hurricane season The 1997 Pacific hurricane season was a very active hurricane season. With hundreds of deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, this was one of the deadliest and costliest Pacific hurricane seasons on record. This was due to the e ...

, Andres formed on June 1 off the coast of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It initially moved toward the coast, although a change in steering winds turned the storm toward Mexico and Guatemala. After passing just offshore, Andres again changed direction toward the southeast, gradually weakening in the process. On June 7, it turned toward and hit El Salvador before dissipating. The storm brought rainfall to coastlines along much of its path, destroying some houses and inflicted damage. Two fishermen were reported missing in Nicaragua due to high seas, and there were four deaths in El Salvador.

Meteorological history

Tropical Storm Andres was the first of many storms of the season, with above-average activity due to one of the strongest

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

events on record. In most of May 1997, strong

westerlies The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes (about ...

extended across the eastern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, which inhibited

tropical cyclogenesis Tropical cyclogenesis is the development and strengthening of a tropical cyclone in the atmosphere. The mechanisms through which tropics, tropical cyclogenesis occur are distinctly different from those through which temperate cyclogenesis occu ...

. Toward the end of the month, however,

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 ...

decreased in the easternmost portion of the basin, which allowed a low-level circulation to develop; it is possible the system 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 traversed the Atlantic Ocean in the previous two weeks. Deep convection increased over the circulation on May 31, prompting classifications with the

Dvorak technique The Dvorak technique (developed between 1969 and 1984 by Vernon Dvorak) is a widely used system to estimate tropical cyclone intensity (which includes tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane/typhoon/intense tropical cyclone intensities ...

. Based on satellite imagery, it is estimated the system developed into Tropical Depression One-E early on June 1, about south of the

Gulf of Tehuantepec The Gulf of Tehuantepec () is a large body of water on the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, southeastern Mexico, at . Many (but not all) Pacific hurricanes form in or near this body of water. A strong, gale-force wind called the T ...

. The tropical cyclone was never well-organized, and after its formation, the convection became elongated. As the entire system moved northwestward, another circulation developed which eventually became the dominant center, causing the original circulation to dissipate. Midday on June 2, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Andres. The next day, steering winds forced the storm east-northeastward, and on June 4, Andres attained peak winds of . 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 ...

bypassed the storm to the north and changed the steering flow toward the southeast. This produced a track paralleling the

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

coastline; such a track was considered "unprecedented" 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 ...

in the database for all eastern Pacific storms. Initially, the storm was expected to continue moving toward

and

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 ...

. Turning southeastward, Tropical Storm Andres passed about off the coast of Guatemala, before it began weakening due to interaction with the

Intertropical Convergence Zone The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ , or ICZ), known by sailors as the doldrums or the calms because of its monotonous windless weather, is the area where the northeast and the southeast trade winds converge. It encircles Earth near the t ...

. The convection became amorphous and later shifted to the southeast of the circulation. On June 6 Andres weakened to tropical depression status. It turned northward and moved ashore near

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

on June 7, which was the first recorded landfall in the country. The low-level circulation quickly dissipated over land, although the mid-level circulation persisted across Central America. After the featured reached the western

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 ...

, a new surface circulation developed, and initially,

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 anticipated the development of a significant storm in the eastern

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. Instead, the system remained disorganized, bringing rainfall to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where 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 ...

, and the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

before it was absorbed by a weak trough in the Gulf of Mexico.

Impact and preparations

When Tropical Storm Andres first turned to the northeast, tropical storm warnings were issued from Punta Galera, Mexico to the

border. A tropical storm warning was later issued from

Champerico Champerico is a town and municipality in the Retalhuleu department in southwestern Guatemala. It is a popular vacation spot for Guatemalans in the region. The picturesque beach town was founded on the Pacific Ocean in 1872, and the paved road to ...

, Guatemala to the Mexican border. All of the warnings were dropped when Andres turned toward the southeast. Later, a tropical storm watch was issued for Guatemala and

, but it was quickly canceled. Due to the threat of the storm, officials closed ports along the southern Mexican coastline, and also advised for small boats to excise caution. Throughout its life, Andres produced rainfall along the coast of Mexico, in

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

, and

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

, as well as through the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

. The highest total in the country was in

Mazatán, Chiapas Villa Mazatán ( is a Municipalities of Chiapas, municipality in the List of states in Mexico, Mexican state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. It has an area of 386.6 km ² and is located in the southwestern Mexican state. In 2010, the municipa ...

. Heavy rainfall and high seas spread across western Central America. In El Salvador and Nicaragua, the storm led to power outages, traffic accidents, and overflown rivers, as well as destroyed bridges and buildings in Nicaragua. Two fishermen were left missing in Nicaragua, and the storm damaged 91 houses and destroyed 82 more, leaving a total of 1,259 people homeless. There were 4 deaths in El Salvador where Andres made landfall. The remnants of Andres brought rainfall to

, and the

. In Florida, the system produced a daily record precipitation of at the

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...

; the rainfall led to street flooding, accidents, and housing damage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andres (1997) Eastern Pacific tropical storms 1997 Pacific hurricane season June 1997 in Mexico 1997 disasters in Mexico 1997 in El Salvador 1997 in Nicaragua 1997 in Guatemala Hurricanes in El Salvador Hurricanes in Nicaragua Hurricanes in Guatemala Hurricanes in Guerrero Hurricanes in Oaxaca Hurricanes in Chiapas Hurricanes in Tabasco Hurricanes in Campeche Hurricanes in Quintana Roo Hurricanes in Yucatán

Meteorological history

Impact and preparations

See also

References