{"id":84157,"date":"2017-09-20T14:27:55","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T18:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=84157"},"modified":"2017-09-20T14:31:35","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T18:31:35","slug":"puerto-rico-devastated-by-hurricane-maria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=84157","title":{"rendered":"Puerto Rico and USVI Slammed by Hurricane Maria"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Maria Slams St. Croix, Rips Across Puerto Rico<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->Bob Henson<br \/>\nWeather Underground<\/p>\n<div class=\"cat-six-article-body\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/VIIRS-0613Z-9.20.17-835px-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-84159\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/VIIRS-0613Z-9.20.17-835px-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/VIIRS-0613Z-9.20.17-835px-1.jpg 835w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/VIIRS-0613Z-9.20.17-835px-1-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/VIIRS-0613Z-9.20.17-835px-1-768x450.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Above:<\/strong>\u00a0VIIRS infrared satellite image of Hurricane Maria moving just west of St. Croix while at Cat 5 strength at 2:13 am EDT Wednesday, September 20, 2017. Image credit:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/NOAASatellitePA\/status\/910453295751352320\">NOAA\/CIMSS\/UM-Madison<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Ferocious\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wunderground.com\/hurricane\/atlantic\/2017\/tropical-storm-maria\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/www.wunderground.com\/hurricane\/atlantic\/2017\/tropical-storm-maria&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1505995681683000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEfuFhBjNLWeGVxjjdEveA41hUFqg\">Hurricane Maria<\/a>\u00a0made landfall around\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144853\">6:15 am EDT<\/span>\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144854\">Wednesday<\/span>\u00a0near Yabucoa in far southeast Puerto Rico as a top-end Category 4 storm, with peak sustained winds estimated at 155 mph.<\/p>\n<p>Maria was the second strongest hurricane ever recorded to hit Puerto Rico, behind only the 1928 San Felipe Segundo hurricane, which killed 328 people on the island and caused catastrophic damage. Puerto Rico\u2019s main island has also been hit by two other Category 4 hurricanes, the 1932 San Ciprian Hurricane, and the 1899 San Ciriaco Hurricane.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In terms of top sustained wind, Maria is the fifth strongest hurricane on record to hit the U.S. behind only the four Cat 5s to hit the country (Hurricane Andrew of 1992 in South Florida, Hurricane Camille of 1969 in Mississippi, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 in the Florida Keys, and the 1928 hurricane in Puerto Rico.)<\/li>\n<li>In terms of lowest atmospheric pressure at landfall, Maria (917 mb) ranks third in U.S. records behind only the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and Camille.<\/li>\n<li>Maria&#8217;s landfall at Category 4 strength gives the U.S. a record three Category 4+ landfalls this year (Maria, Harvey, and Irma). The previous record was two such landfalls, set in 1992 (Cat 5 Andrew in Florida, and Cat 4 Iniki in Hawaii.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Maria did not hit Puerto Rico as a Category 5 hurricane, thanks to an eyewall replacement cycle (ERC) that began\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144855\">on Tuesday<\/span>\u00a0night. The storm\u2019s \u201cpinhole\u201d eye, less than 10 miles wide, was supplemented by an outer eyewall that contracted around the smaller one. The process helped lead to the slight weakening of Maria\u2019s top winds, but it also likely broadened its core of winds topping 100 mph.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Impact on St. Croix<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Maria raked the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix (population 50,000) with its outer eyewall on the strong (right front) side of the eye, between about 1 \u2013 3 am EDT\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144857\">Wednesday<\/span>\u00a0morning, but the island missed seeing the Category 5 winds of the inner eyewall, which remained just offshore to the south. The highest winds officially observed on the island were at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wrh.noaa.gov\/mesowest\/timeseries.php?sid=CVAV3&amp;num=48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/www.wrh.noaa.gov\/mesowest\/timeseries.php?sid%3DCVAV3%26num%3D48&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1505995681683000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE_jqpfO_iTm5kEaDzs2Bhep3l7iw\">Cotton Valley RAWS<\/a>, located on the east end of St. Croix: sustained at 99 mph, gusting to 136 mph, at\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144858\">2:13 am EDT<\/span>. A WeatherFlow station at Sandy Point, on the island&#8217;s southwest tip,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/WeatherFlowCHAS\/status\/910372356861972480\">observed<\/a>\u00a0sustained winds of 100-104 mph, gusting to 137 mph. Even stronger winds likely occurred somewhere across the island&#8217;s west end, but we don\u2019t know how strong, since the wind measuring equipment at the St. Croix airport and the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ndbc.noaa.gov\/station_page.php?station=ltbv3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/www.ndbc.noaa.gov\/station_page.php?station%3Dltbv3&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1505995681683000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG68S8MdWzvVqoqB1pFRA18IQKrlQ\">Lime Tree Bay Buoy<\/a>\u00a0failed.<\/p>\n<p>According to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov\/quicklook\/view.html?name=MARIA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov\/quicklook\/view.html?name%3DMARIA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1505995681683000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGrhRG6htJOr2M7smz5dXnslen58g\">Quicklook page at NOAA\u2019s Tides and Currents<\/a>, Christiansted Harbor on the north side of St. Croix observed a storm surge of two feet. The pressure at a personal weather station on the southwest tip of St. Croix fell to 954 mb at\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144859\">1:48 am<\/span>, when the eye made its closest pass to the island.<\/p>\n<p>The British Virgin Islands and the other two U.S. Virgin Islands\u2014St. John and St. Thomas\u2014were far enough northeast to avoid the worst from Maria. A wind gust to 86 mph was reported at St. Thomas,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/weather.com\/storms\/hurricane\/news\/hurricane-maria-category-5-leeward-islands-virgin-islands-puerto-rico\">according to weather.com.<\/a><\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-element file-default\" title=\"Final radar image from NWS San Juan during Hurricane Maria, 0545 EDT 9\/20\/2017\" src=\"http:\/\/s.w-x.co\/wu\/maria-radar-landfall-pr.gif\" alt=\"Final radar image from NWS San Juan during Hurricane Maria, 0545 EDT 9\/20\/2017\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" data-delta=\"1\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Figure 1.<\/b>\u00a0The last radar image of Maria from the NWS Puerto Rico radar before it failed, taken at\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144834\"><span class=\"aQJ\">5:45 am EDT Wednesday<\/span><\/span>. Maria officially made landfall\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144835\"><span class=\"aQJ\">30 minutes later<\/span><\/span>\u00a0at\u00a0<span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144836\"><span class=\"aQJ\">6:15 am EDT<\/span><\/span>, when the center of the eye crossed the coast.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><strong>Maria in Puerto Rico<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wrh.noaa.gov\/mesowest\/timeseries.php?sid=YABP4&amp;num=48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/www.wrh.noaa.gov\/mesowest\/timeseries.php?sid%3DYABP4%26num%3D48&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1505995681683000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGU30sCmv3yRP072EbbFUHDNL_RWA\">Yabucoa Harbor<\/a>\u00a0in southeast Puerto Rico, near where the center of Maria made landfall, recorded sustained winds of 71 mph gusting to 99 mph at\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144860\">7:06 am EDT<\/span>. A peak wind gust of 113 mph was observed there at\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144861\">5:12 am<\/span>. Other wind gusts across Puerto Rico as of early Wednesday morning,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/weather.com\/storms\/hurricane\/news\/hurricane-maria-category-5-leeward-islands-virgin-islands-puerto-rico\">as compiled by weather.com<\/a>, included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Isla Culebrita: 137 mph<\/li>\n<li>Camp Santiago: 118 mph<\/li>\n<li>El Negro: 116 mph<\/li>\n<li>Gurabo: 115\u00a0mph<\/li>\n<li>Yabucoa: 113\u00a0mph<\/li>\n<li>Fajardo: 100 mph<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov\/quicklook\/view.html?name=MARIA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov\/quicklook\/view.html?name%3DMARIA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1505995681683000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGrhRG6htJOr2M7smz5dXnslen58g\">Quicklook page at NOAA\u2019s Tides and Currents<\/a>, Yabucoa Harbor recorded a peak storm surge of approximately 5.3\u2019 as of\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144862\">8 am EDT<\/span>\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144863\">Wednesday<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>At\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/text\/refresh\/MIATCPAT5+shtml\/201156.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?hl=en&amp;q=http:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/text\/refresh\/MIATCUAT5%2Bshtml\/201059.shtml&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1505995681683000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGdxDZ9m8DeOV5yLfbWPU2CkkmNVA\"><span data-term=\"goog_924144864\">8 am EDT<\/span>\u00a0<span data-term=\"goog_924144865\">Tuesday<\/span><\/a>, Maria was centered about 15 miles south-southwest of San Juan, PR, moving northwest at 10 mph. A sustained wind of 64 mph, gusting to 113, was reported at San Juan, Puerto Rico at 7 am, but the airport is no longer reporting winds. Maria will cut a destructive swath across Puerto Rico from southeast to northwest\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144866\">on Wednesday<\/span>morning, with its center moving offshore from the north central coast by late morning. The mountainous terrain of Puerto Rico will disrupt Maria\u2019s core, probably leaving the storm as a Category 3 by the time it moves back offshore midday\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144867\">Wednesday<\/span>. Maria\u2019s track is putting the dangerous right-hand side of Maria\u2019s core over or near the San Juan metropolitan area.<\/p>\n<p>Torrential rains will produce\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexJLamers\/status\/910472374038024192\">widespread flooding<\/a>\u00a0across Puerto Rico. NOAA\/USGS gauge data showed that several rivers along the higher terrain of central and east central Puerto Rico were\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/water.weather.gov\/ahps2\/index.php?wfo=sju\">already close to record crests<\/a>\u00a0as of Tuesday morning. Jonathan Vigh (National Center for Atmospheric Research) noted that very heavy rainfall was observed by the NWS San Juan radar in the vicinity of the El Yunque rainforest, just east of San Juan, before the radar went out of service\u00a0<span tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_924144868\">on Wednesday<\/span>\u00a0morning. He added that the region&#8217;s 3000-foot-high mountains and a northeastward-facing valley were nearly ideal for intercept hurricane-force winds blowing toward Maria&#8217;s center.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll be back with a full update on Maria and Jose later today.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jeff Masters co-wrote this post.<\/em><\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-element file-default\" title=\"Radar-based rainfall estimates for Puerto Rico, 9\/20\/2017\" src=\"http:\/\/s.w-x.co\/wu\/maria-pr-rain.png\" alt=\"Radar-based rainfall estimates for Puerto Rico, 9\/20\/2017\" width=\"637\" height=\"477\" data-delta=\"3\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Figure 2.\u00a0<\/strong>Before it went out of service at around 5:45 am EDT Wednesday, the NWS radar showed very heavy rainfall accumulations along the higher terrain of east central Puerto Rico. Totals of more than 25&#8243; were estimated in the vicinity of the El Yunque rainforest.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"media-element file-default\" title=\"First-light GOES-16 image of Hurricane Maria taken at 7:15 am EDT September 20, 2017.\" src=\"http:\/\/s.w-x.co\/wu\/maria-goes16-sep20.jpg\" alt=\"First-light GOES-16 image of Hurricane Maria taken at 7:15 am EDT September 20, 2017.\" width=\"750\" height=\"573\" data-delta=\"2\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Figure 3.<\/strong>\u00a0First-light GOES-16 image of Hurricane Maria taken at 7:15 am EDT September 20, 2017. Maria&#8217;s eye was obscured by clouds due to interactions with land. Image credit:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/rammb-slider.cira.colostate.edu\/?sat=goes-16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NOAA\/RAMMB<\/a>. GOES-16 data is preliminary and considered non-operational.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">Eyewall Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico !! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/G8GaLTmNqh\">https:\/\/t.co\/G8GaLTmNqh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Extreme Nature (@extremenature) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/extremenature\/status\/910478325881069569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 20, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wunderground.com\/cat6\/maria-slams-st-croix-now-ripping-across-puerto-rico\">http:\/\/www.wunderground.com\/cat6\/maria-slams-st-croix-now-ripping-across-puerto-rico<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maria Slams St. Croix, Rips Across Puerto Rico<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}