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Hurricane Ike (pronounced ) was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008. The intensity of Ike and its abnormally large size wrought havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. In these places, Ike remains the costliest tropical cyclone on record. Other locations were also seriously affected by Ike, which was ultimately the third costliest of any Atlantic hurricane and resulted in $25 billion in damages. Ike developed from a tropical wave west of Cape Verde on September 1 and strengthened to a peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane over the open waters of the central Atlantic on September 4 as it tracked westward. Several fluctuations in strength occurred before Ike made landfall on eastern Cuba on September 8. The hurricane weakened prior to continuing into the Gulf of Mexico, but increased its intensity by the time of its final landfall on Galveston, Texas on September 13. The remnants of Ike continued to track across the United States and into Canada, causing considerable damage inland, before dissipating two days later. Ike was blamed for at least 195 deaths. Of these deaths, 74 were in Haiti,〔 which was already trying to recover from the impact of three storms (Fay, Gustav, and Hanna) which had made landfall that same year. Seven people were killed in Cuba from Ike.〔 In the United States, 112 people were reported killed, directly or indirectly, and 23 were still missing or could not be contacted as of 3 May 2010.〔 Due to its immense size, Ike caused devastation from the Louisiana coastline all the way to the Kenedy County region near Corpus Christi, Texas. In addition, Ike caused flooding and significant damage along the Mississippi coastline and the Florida Panhandle Damages from Ike in U.S. coastal and inland areas are estimated at $29.5 billion (2008 USD),〔 with additional damage of $7.3 billion in Cuba (the costliest storm ever in that country), $200 million in the Bahamas, and $500 million in the Turks and Caicos, amounting to a total of at least $37.5 billion in damage. Ike is now the third costliest Atlantic hurricane of all time, only surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and later by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.〔Blake and Landsea, ''The Deadliest, Costliest, and most Intense United States Tropical Cyclones from 1851 To 2010'', National Hurricane Center, p. 9〕 The search-and-rescue operation after Ike is the largest search-and-rescue operation in U.S. history.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Ike Evacuation and Rescue Operation )〕 At one point, Ike had a diameter of over 600 miles. Ike was the third major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. ==Meteorological history== The origins of Hurricane Ike can be traced back to a well-defined tropical wave first identified by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) just within the western coast of Africa on August 28.〔Berg, p. 1〕 Despite the development of a low-pressure area associated with the wave and signs of organization within favorable conditions near the Cape Verde Islands, the system was only able to generate intermittent thunderstorm activity. The broad low-pressure continued to track westward and was considered to have become sufficiently organized to be classified as a tropical depression at 06:00 UTC on September 1. By this time the cyclone had tracked 780 mi (1,250 km) west of Cape Verde. Although post-analysis indicated that the depression reached tropical storm strength at 12:00 UTC that day,〔Berg, p. 2〕 operationally the NHC began issuing advisories on Ike three hours later, by which time the system had already gained numerous curved rainbands and well-established outflow. Over the next few hours, Ike developed additional rainbands, but failed to a centralized area of convection due to the presence of dry air to the storm's south and its location in an area with only marginally favorable sea surface temperatures. These factors were also responsible for Ike's slow developmental trend that began after formation.〔 Ike's gradual strengthening began to quicken early on September 3, with the strengthening of an intense rainband around the center of the storm. At roughly 15:00 UTC that day, microwave imaging indicated that a primordial eye was developing within the intensifying tropical storm.〔 Tracking northwestward, the NHC upgraded Ike to hurricane status at 18:00 UTC based on objective satellite intensity estimates and the appearance of the eye on visible satellite imagery.〔 During this time, Ike was centered 690 mi (1,100 km) east-northeast of the Leeward Islands, and was tracking west-northwestward as a result of a weakened subtropical ridge to its northeast.〔 Ike's placement in an area with virtually no wind shear allowed for the hurricane to rapidly intensify despite unfavorable upper-level winds to its north,〔 reaching major hurricane strength six hours after its designation as a hurricane. At 06:00 UTC on September 4, Ike peaked with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 935 mbar (hPa; 27.61 inHg), making the storm a Category 4 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. After peaking in strength, a ridge of high pressure to the storm's west strengthened, causing Ike to track towards the southwest—a path unusual for the time of year. However, this track also brought the storm into an area of strong wind shear,〔 causing the storm to become asymmetric in structure late on September 4 and weaken, briefly dropping below major hurricane status on September 6 while 150 mi (240 km) east of Grand Turk Island. Although wind shear abated and allowed for reintensification, Ike would fluctuate in strength over the next few days. After passing near the Turks and Caicos Islands, Ike made its first landfall on Inagua in the Bahamas at 13:00 UTC on September 7 with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h).〔Berg, p. 3〕 After passing over Inagua,〔 the development of a double eyewall—a feature that usually denotes the beginning of an eyewall replacement cycle—slightly weakened Ike late on September 7. However, the hurricane was able to reintensify and reach Category 4 intensity for a final time before making landfall near Cabo Lucrecia on the coast of Holguín Province in Cuba by 00:00 UTC the next day.〔 Although Ike remained well-defined for most of its crossing of eastern Cuba, the hurricane's core had become disrupted by the time it had reached the Caribbean Sea after spending a few hours over land. Over the next day, Ike tracked westward, paralleling the southern coast of Cuba without much intensification; at times the center of the hurricane was within 12 mi (19 km) of the island. At around 14:00 UTC on September 9, Ike made a second Cuban landfall, this time on Punta La Capitana in Pinar del Rio, with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). Roughly six hours later, the hurricane emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a slightly weakened system.〔 Despite tracking back over water, Ike's prolonged interaction with Cuba had greatly disrupted the system's core, and instead of quickly strengthening and coalescing, the storm's wind field instead grew and only gradual intensification ensued.〔 Due to the storm's comparatively small inner core and intensity of the outer rainbands, an eyewall replacement cycle took place, preventing Ike from rapidly intensifying. At around the same time, an area of high pressure strengthened to the hurricane's north, steering the cyclone further west than initially anticipated. Moving over the warm waters of the Loop Current,〔 Ike reached a secondary minimum in barometric pressure on 00:00 UTC with an estimate of 944 mbar (hPa; 27.88 inHg); though winds would continue to strengthen afterwards, the storm's pressure would rise.〔Berg, p. 16〕 By late on September 12, Ike had reached the western edge of the nearby area of high pressure and began to curve northward. The formation of an eye just prior to landfall resulted in a slight increase in winds,〔 and at 0700 UTC on September 13, Ike made landfall on northern end of Galveston Island in Texas with a minimum barometric pressure of 950 mbar (hPa; 28.06 inHg) and sustained winds of 110 mph (175 km/h), making Ike a Category 2 hurricane.〔 After tracking inland, Ike weakened as it sped northward and later northeastward, weakening to tropical storm status east of Palestine, Texas late on September 13 and later becoming a powerful extratropical cyclone on September 14 over the Ozarks.〔 A more steady weakening phase ensued, and after tracking across southern Ontario and Quebec, the remnants of Ike were absorbed by another extratropical low near the St. Lawrence River, on September 15.〔Berg, p. 4〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hurricane Ike」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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