Hurricane Safety and Preparedness

Hurricane Lorenzo Became the Strongest on Record in the Eastern Atlantic, Then Struck the Azores

At a Glance

Lorenzo strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane in late September 2019.
It was the strongest hurricane on record in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Lorenzo brought strong winds to parts of the Azores from October 1-2.
Its post-tropical remnant then moved into Ireland.

Hurricane Lorenzo briefly became a Category 5 hurricane in late September 2019, the most intense eastern Atlantic hurricane on record, before slamming into the Azores as a weaker, but still formidable hurricane.

Lorenzo rapidly deepened September 28 from Category 3 status with estimated maximum sustained winds of 115 mph at 11 a.m. EDT to Category 5 status with winds of 160 mph just 12 hours later.

This is by far the farthest east in the Atlantic Ocean any of the previous 35 Category 5 hurricanes have occurred in records dating to the 1920s.

(MORE: Tugboat Sinks on Lorenzo, Survivors Recovered)

The previous Category 5 hurricane locations from 1924 through 2019 are shown as red segments. Lorenzo became a Category 5 hurricane on Sept. 28, 2019, farther east than any previous Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record.
(Data: NOAA)

National Hurricane Center forecaster Eric Blake noted Lorenzo became a Category 5 hurricane almost 650 miles farther east than the previous easternmost Category 5 hurricane, Hugo in 1989.

Lorenzo also had the lowest pressure for a hurricane east of 50 degrees west longitude on record Saturday evening and had been a major hurricane for the longest period of time east of 45 degrees west longitude on record, according to Colorado State University tropical scientist Dr. Phil Klotzbach.

Lorenzo was the second Category 5 hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season and the sixth such top-end hurricane to form in the Atlantic Basin in a little less than three years, following Matthew, Irma, Maria, Michael and Dorian.

(CATEGORY 6 BLOG: Lorenzo Muscles Its Way to Category 5 Strength)

Azores Strike, Then Ireland Remnant

Lorenzo brought high winds, pounding surf and storm surge to the Azores as it made its closest approach early on October 2 as a Category 1 hurricane.

A wind gust to 85 mph was clocked Wednesday morning in the westernmost Azores island of Flores. On the central Azores island of Pico, Lomba do Cácere saw wind gusts as high as 110 mph, according to Jeff Masters at Weather Underground.

Lorenzo's strong winds knocked down trees and power lines in the Azores, according to the Associated Press.

(PHOTOS: Lorenzo Brings Damaging Winds to Azores)

Lorenzo then transitioned into a strong post-tropical cyclone after pounding the Azores. That means it no longer had the tropical characteristics of a hurricane, but it was still a potent storm with high winds, rain and pounding surf as it headed toward Ireland the following day.

Orange warnings for strong winds were issued for western Ireland by Met Éireann, the Irish Meteorological Service. That means wind gusts of 60 to 75 mph (100 to 120 km/h) were possible, with sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph (65 to 80 km/hr). Yellow warnings for wind gusts up to 60 mph (100 km/h) were issued for the rest of Ireland.

Lorenzo's Other Notables

Even before becoming a Category 5, Lorenzo was a historic storm.

When Lorenzo first became a Category 4 hurricane, it was also an outlier, particularly when considering only those that became Category 4 hurricanes from Sept. 26 through the end of the season, as pointed out by Richard Dixon, a meteorologist at CatInsight, and Michael Lowry, an atmospheric scientist at FEMA.

September 2010's Hurricane Julia was the only other hurricane on record to intensify to Category 4 status farther east in the Atlantic Ocean than Lorenzo. But Julia's estimated winds peaked at 140 mph, slightly lower than Lorenzo.

Tracks of all Atlantic Basin Category 4 or stronger hurricanes from 1950 through 2017. Segments during which each hurricane was Category 4 or 5 is shown by the pink and purple line segments, respectively. The position of Lorenzo when it first reached Category 4 status is denoted by the dot and arrow. The location of Julia when it was a Category 4 hurricane in 2010 is also highlighted. (Note: 2018 tracks were unavailable in the online database as of the time of this article.)
(NOAA)

Even in the heart of hurricane season, tropical waves moving off the coast of western Africa usually take some time to mushroom into intense hurricanes.

This is often due to intrusions of dry air, known as Saharan air layers, moving off Africa's Sahara Desert. Fledgling tropical disturbances need warm, moist air to intensify, so battling these intrusions can prevent intensification or even spell doom in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

In Lorenzo's case, that wasn't a big problem.

A lack of shearing winds, typically warm ocean water and moist air allowed Lorenzo to rapidly intensify so far east.

Lorenzo strengthened from a tropical storm last Tuesday into a hurricane by Wednesday, first reaching Category 4 hurricane strength by late Thursday morning. Lorenzo then weakened to Category 3 strength late Friday, before regaining Category 4 strength on Saturday and hitting Category 5 strength on Sunday.

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