Monday, October 24, 2005
For the first time since the U.S. Hurricance Center started naming tropical storms in 1953, they've run out of the year's assigned names and are resorting to the Greek alphabet. 2005's 22nd tropical storm, Alpha, started cooking up in the Carribbean this weekend near the Dominican Republic. However, this morning's news reports say that Hurricane Wilma is actually "consuming" Alpha, which has been downgraded to a depression:MIAMI, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Tropical depression Alpha weakened over the Atlantic Ocean Monday as it moved north to eventually meet, and fold into Hurricane Wilma. At 11 a.m. EDT, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said the system was 630 miles southwest of Bermuda, moving north at 20 mph, with maximum winds of 35 mph. It was expected the system would disappear completely within 24 hours as the Category 2 Hurricane Wilma moved north and east away from Florida off the U.S. East Coast.
Alpha made landfall on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic Sunday. Alpha was the record-breaking 22nd storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, and was named for the first letter in the Greek alphabet when forecasters ran out of designated human names. [via Science Daily]
Wilma "Consuming" Alpha
