Tropical Depression Ten was the tenth tropicalcyclone of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The depression formed on August 13 from a tropical wave that entered the Atlantic Ocean on August 8. Because of strong wind shear, the depression stayed weak and did not strengthen much. The cyclone itself had no effect on land and did not cause any damage. It mostly died out on August 14, but its remains later helped to form another storm, Hurricane Katrina. Katrina became one of the worst hurricanes in the history of the United States.[1][2][Note 1] In general, Tropical Depression is a tropical cyclone that has maximum sustained surface winds of 38 mph or less.
Storm history
The tropical depression began as a tropical wave that entered the Atlantic Ocean on August 8, 2005. The wave moved west and began to become stronger on August 11. The system formed into Tropical Depression Ten at 12:00 UTC on August 13. It was about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) to the east of Barbados.[3] When the storm was first called a tropical depression, it had a large area of thunderstorms, with curved rainbands.[4]
The depression slowly moved west, but wind shear stopped the storm from becoming much stronger. Late on August 13, a weather forecaster said that it was "beginning to look like Irene-junior". They said this because it was mid-level shear happening in the storm towards the southwest "beneath the otherwisefavorable upper-level outflowpattern".[5] This means that the storm looked similar to Hurricane Irene.
Early on August 14, the wind shear tore apart the storm. The center of the storm separated from the thunderstorm areas.[6] Later that day, the cyclone became even weaker. The National Hurricane Center gave their final warning on Tropical Depression Ten, and the storm mostly disappeared. However, its remains produced a few bursts of thunderstorm activity for several days, before completely stopping on August 18.[3]
Energy left over from Tropical Depression Ten helped to form Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas on August 23.[7][8] Normally, if a depression disappears and forms again, it keeps the same number. However, the formation of Tropical Depression Twelve involved other weather systems, including another tropical wave.[9] Tropical Depression Twelve later became Hurricane Katrina.[1]
Impact
Tropical Depression Ten did not hit land. So, no tropical cyclone watches and warnings were given out. It did not damage anything or cause any people's deaths, and no ships reported strong winds. Also, the depression never became a tropical storm, so the National Hurricane Center did not give it a name.[3]
After the depression mostly died, part of its remains became part of Tropical Depression Twelve, which later intensified into Hurricane Katrina. Katrina later became a Category 5 hurricane and reached land in Louisiana. Katrina caused much damage and became one of the worst hurricanes in the history of the United States.[1]
↑It caused the most damage in terms of money and killed 1,836 people in the United States. Because of this, it is thought to be one of the worst hurricanes.