Everything about Hurricane Isis 1998 totally explained
Hurricane Isis was the deadliest
tropical cyclone and only
hurricane to make
landfall during the
1998 Pacific hurricane season. The ninth tropical storm and sixth hurricane of the season, Isis developed on
September 1 from the interaction between a
tropical wave and a large surface circulation to the southwest of
Mexico. It moved northward, striking the extreme southeastern portion of the
Baja California peninsula before attaining hurricane status in the
Gulf of California. Isis made landfall at
Topolobampo in the Mexican state of
Sinaloa on
September 3, and quickly lost its low-level circulation. The remnants persisted for several days before dissipating in the
U.S. state of
Idaho.
In Mexico, Isis destroyed over 700 houses and killed 14 people; this is primarily due to its heavy rainfall which peaked at over 20 inches (500 mm) in southern
Baja California Sur. The rainfall caused widespread damage to roads and railways, stranding thousands of people. Moisture from the remnants of Isis extended into the
southwestern United States, resulting in light rainfall, dozens of traffic accidents, and power outages to thousands of residents in
San Diego County, California.
Storm history
A
tropical wave moved off the coast of
Africa on
August 14 1998. It traveled westward, and on
August 19 spawned the tropical depression that eventually became
Hurricane Bonnie. The wave continued westward across the
Atlantic Ocean and
Caribbean Sea, and crossed
Central America into the eastern
Pacific Ocean on
August 25. The wave decreased its forward speed while approaching a large low-level circulation over southern
Mexico. A broad area of disturbed weather formed in association with the wave and the low-level circulation, and after persisting for several days developed a smaller low-level circulation on
August 29 about 575 miles (925 km) south-southeast of
Cabo San Lucas. On
August 31, the two primary areas of convection were well-removed from the center. By early on
September 1, despite a lack of convective organization, the low-cloud circulation was sufficiently well-defined that the
National Hurricane Center designated it as Tropical Depression Ten-E, or the tenth tropical depression of the season, about 350 miles (565 km) south of Cabo San Lucas. In real time, the National Hurricane Center first upgraded the system 21 hours later.
The depression initially tracked slowly north-northwestward and gradually strengthened. Late on
September 1 it intensified into Tropical Storm Isis while located about 200 miles (320 km) south of Cabo San Lucas. At 1200
UTC on
September 2, Isis made landfall on extreme southeastern
Baja California Sur as a strong tropical storm, and subsequently turned to the north-northeast.
Preparations
Coinciding with the National Hurricane Center's first advisory on Isis, the
government of Mexico issued a
tropical storm warning from
Dolores to
Puerto Cortés along the
Baja California Peninsula. This helped some of the residents get an early start.Early on
September 2, the warning was extended from
Santa Rosalía to
Punta Abreojos, while an additional tropical storm warning was issued from
El Dorado to
Guaymas. After Isis became a hurricane, officials issued a hurricane warning from Dolores to
Punta San Gabriel on the Baja California Peninsula and from El Dorado to
Bahía Kino on the mainland. Officials set up 49 shelters on the mainland to provide evacuees with food, clothing and medical attention. The
Mexican Army assisted residents in evacuation, and the
Navy provided medical aid and assistance to boat owners. More than 24,000 people were sheltered during the storm.
Impact
Mexico
Isis first affected
Baja California Sur on
September 2 as a tropical storm. Shortly after making landfall, a weather reporting station at
San José del Cabo recorded sustained winds of 26 mph (42 km/h), and gusts reaching up to 46 mph (74 km/h). A station on the
Islas Marías also reported sustained winds of 54 mph (87 km/h). Initially, reports indicated a family was missing in
La Paz, though they were later proven false. Throughout the city, strong winds from the hurricane downed street posts, tree limbs, and power lines, with one person seriously injured from a downed power line. Additionally, the roof of a gas station collapsed from the winds. The winds from Isis left about 120,000 people in the municipality of
Ahome without power. According to a speech by
President Ernesto Zedillo, Isis damaged the water systems in 173
localities; it also damaged 154 primary schools and nine high schools, minor in most cases, causing most schools to be closed for around a week. A total of 730 miles (1175 km) of railroad track was damaged by mudslides or flooding, with one bridge entirely destroyed and another four damaged. The heaviest precipitation fell across the
Santa Catalina and
Rincon Mountains near
Tucson, which saw precipitation amounts of up to three inches (75 mm). Otherwise, no flooding was reported in the Tucson area, and the
Tucson International Airport reported only 1.1 inches (28 mm) as a result of the storm.
The moisture extended into southern
California and produced moderate precipitation across the region.
Bakersfield reported a one-day rainfall record on
September 4 with 0.23 inches (5.8 mm) of precipitation, breaking the previous record of 0.17 inches (4.3 mm) set in 1963. Rainfall amounts at
Frazier Park peaked at 1.53 inches (39 mm). Agricultural losses, primarily from
vintners and raisin growers, rose up to $5 million in damage (1998 USD, $6.33 million 2007 USD), either directly due to rain or indirectly due to the additional steps to treat the increase in fungus activity on produce. Slick roads from the rain resulted in nearly 80 traffic accidents in
San Diego County, ranging from fender benders to moderate injuries. Thunderstorms from the remnants of Isis damaged a
San Diego Gas & Electric substation at
Kearny Mesa, leaving 10,000 customers without power; the outage was short lived and completely restored within two hours. About 1,000 homes and businesses were temporarily without power in
Escondido, and another 2,700 customers lost electricity in
Rancho Bernardo. Rainfall in and around
San Diego reached a maximum of 0.5 inches (13 mm) at
La Mesa. Heavy clouds from Isis produced scattered rainfall and temporary relief to severe heat conditions in the
Los Angeles area.
Moisture from the remnants of Isis spread across the southwestern United States, and rainfall reached over 0.75 inches (19 mm) in
Nevada and
Utah. Low-level moisture dissipated as it continued inland, due to dry air, although upper-level moisture produced light rain across the
Northwestern United States;
Pocatello, Idaho recorded 0.59 inches (15 mm), while
Missoula, Montana recorded 0.39 inches (10 mm).
Aftermath
Aid programs began immediately after Isis moved ashore and dissipated to provided support to the affected population. The Comisión Nacional del Agua distributed 1.6 million U.S. gallons (1.3 million
imp gal/6 million
L) of water and provided repair equipment to the 173 localities whose water systems were damaged. More than 650 health workers worked to combat the spread of diseases, including monitoring sanitary conditions of water and foods, and sprayed nearly of land to prevent the breeding of
mosquitoes. The force also disinfected more than 6,600 latrines and removed more than of sewage to prevent the spread of epidemic. No medical-related deaths occurred as a result of this attention.
Twenty-four hours after the passage of the hurricane, workers had restored power to 70% of the affected residents in
Sinaloa, and by six days after the storm, electrical service was completely restored. The damage to the federal highway between
Culiacán and
Los Mochis along the coastal region of Sinaloa was restored about 48 hours after the passage of the hurricane. The rehabilitation of the agricultural infrastructure began immediately, and most of the drainage networks were repaired by about two weeks after the hurricane. About half of the damaged railways were repaired by about a month after the storm. The total cost for reconstruction and aid amounted to about $18.5 million (1998 USD, 175 million 1998 MXN, $23.3 million 2007 USD), about 94% from federal funds and the rest from state funding. A portion of the funding was allocated to assist the reconstruction of destroyed houses.
Because the damage Isis caused was neither extreme nor exceptional, the name Isis wasn't
retired by the
World Meteorological Organization. It was re-used for
a storm in the 2004 Pacific hurricane season, and continues to be on the
list of tropical cyclone names for the
2010 season.
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