Last year's storms have been reviewed and a summary of the twelve named storms, using data from the Bermuda Weather Service and the National Hurricane Centre, is listed below.

Hurricane Season Names: Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Dennis, Emily, Floyd, Gert, Harvey, Irene, Jose, Katrina, Lenny, Maria, Nate, Ophelia, Philippe, Rita, Stan, Tammy, Vince, Wilma.

Hurricane details Tropical Storm Arlene (11 - 18 June) Max wind: 60 mph.

Tropical Storm Arlene stemmed from the remnants of a front just to the southeast of Bermuda and re-curved to the east of the Island as it weakened.

This formation position and track was very unusual for an early season system.

Typically, formation in June and July is confined the Caribbean Sea with the occasional formation over the Gulf Stream to the west of Bermuda.

Arlene produced no significant weather for the Island as it began to weaken, passing approximately 100nm to the east of Bermuda. The cruise ships played it safe by leaving the Bermuda ports early or steering clear of the area.

Hurricane Bret (18 - 25 August) Max wind: 140 mph.

Hurricane Bret was the first hurricane to make landfall on the south coast of Texas since Hurricane Allen in 1980.

It approached a sparsely populated area between Brownsville and Corpus Christi on the 23rd with steady category four winds of 125 knots and dissipated in the higher ground of central Mexico on the 25th, causing 60 million US dollars worth of damage.

Hurricane Cindy (19 - 31 August) Max wind: 140 mph Hurricane Cindy traveled the Atlantic on a long track without direct impact on any land. Although no tropical watches or warnings were issued for Bermuda, Cindy was a potential threat for a brief time.

The hurricane passed 375 miles to the east-southeast on 29th August with no significant weather observed locally, except seas in excess of 14 feet outside our reef line with swell.

Hurricane Dennis (24 August - 05 September) Max wind: 105 mph. Direct deaths: four Erratic in both track and intensity, Dennis the menace wreaked havoc in many places along his journey. North Carolina was hit the hardest, experiencing hurricane force winds on the outer bank, high surf and heavy rains, up to 19 inches in some areas; this was the onset of the East Coast flooding.

The remnants of Dennis were absorbed into a low pressure system after doing a loop just off the east coast of the United States. Four deaths were reported in Florida due to the high surf.

Tropical Storm Emily (24 - 28 August) Max wind: 50 mph Following in the wakes of Dennis and Cindy, Emily had little chance to develop with the stirred up cooler waters and upper atmospheric dominance of the larger, more powerful systems. Eventually, Emily ended up being absorbed into Cindy just before the combined system reached its closest point to Bermuda some 375 miles east-southeast on 29th August.

Hurricane Floyd (07 - 17 September) Max wind: 155 mph. Direct deaths: 57 The deadliest tropical system of the season (and in the last 27 years) to the United States caused 57 deaths with extensive flooding, predominantly within North Carolina.

The initial landfall was made over Bahamas as a fluctuating category 3 or 4 hurricane, then again near Cape Fear, North Carolina as a category 2. Dipping inland it weakened while dumping massive amounts of rain, up to 15 to 20 inches, over already flood stricken areas of the eastern United States.

Floyd became extratropical as it moved into the Atlantic Ocean from New England's coast. Total damage ranged from three to over six billion dollars.

An estimated two million people evacuated their homes for Floyd, possibly the largest evacuation in U.S. history.

Hurricane Gert (11 - 23 September) Max wind: 150 mph. Direct deaths: two The structure of a tropical cyclone usually confines the most severe weather to the northeast quadrant of the system. Bermuda was spared the full brunt of Gert because her center passed some 130 miles to the east on the 21st September, confining all category 2 hurricane conditions well to the northeast.

The Bermuda Weather Service reported a maximum sustained wind of 43 knots, with a peak gust of 64 knots. Harbour Radio confirmed winds of 47 gusting 70 knots at its elevated location of approximately 200 feet above sea level.

High winds were responsible for power outages throughout the island, and seas of 25 to 30 feet reported on South Shore contributed to some significant property damage, considerable coastal erosion and minor flooding.

Continued on page 6 Stevenson sums up 1999 Continued from page 5 Tropical Storm Harvey (19 - 22 September) Max wind: 60 mph Harvey beat the odds and formed as a tropical storm in a rather unfavourable atmosphere. It clipped the Florida Keys and south Florida producing tropical storm force winds before being absorbed by a frontal system on the 22nd just east of Florida.

This frontal system produced showery weather in Bermuda for a few days giving us just over three-fourths of an inch of precipitation on the 27th.

Hurricane Irene (13 - 19 October) Max wind: 110 mph. Indirect deaths: eight Irene showed explosive development before crossing over Cuba, over the tip of Florida, then brushing the outer banks of North Carolina, dumping substantial amounts of rainfall and causing flooding.

While approaching the southeast of Newfoundland, Irene was absorbed by an extratropical low and the combination became an intense extratropical storm in the far North Atlantic. The eight indirect deaths were due to electrocution and drowning in Florida.

Hurricane Jose (17 - 25 October) Max wind: 100 mph. Direct deaths: 2 Within 48 hours of being classified as a tropical depression, Jose wasted no time and quickly became a hurricane while located just 150 miles east of the Leeward Islands.

Crossing Antigua and St. Maarten with category 1 winds Jose went on, visiting the British Virgin Islands and brushing Puerto Rico's eastern tip as it was downgraded to a tropical storm and then spun out into the Atlantic.

Passing 300 miles east of Bermuda Jose briefly regained hurricane status.

Bermuda was under potential threat conditions from 20th - 24th and which was briefly upgraded to a threat condition for the 21st. Locally no significant weather was reported, although sea swell was observed. Jose lost all tropical characteristics south of Newfoundland.

Tropical Storm Katrina (28 October - 01 November) Max wind: 40 mph Katrina, a short-lived tropical storm, dumped an estimated 10 to 15 inches of rain over portions of Central America before being absorbed into a cold front just off the Yucatan Peninsula. There were no reports of damage or deaths Hurricane Lenny (13 - 22 November) Max wind: 155 mph. Direct deaths: 15 Forming from a trough in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, LoonyLenny was slow to develop but became an extremely powerful late season hurricane reaching category four status.

Lenny's peculiar eastward motion in the Caribbean Sea was intriguing to say the least. Until now, all data collected in this area reflect systems with main steering winds causing a general westerly track. Lenny is the only tropical system that has approached the Lesser Antilles from the west.

The primary impacts on the regions of landfall were massive amounts of rain with comparatively equal damage caused to the shorelines of the Lesser Antilles due to wave and storm surge. Out of the fifteen deaths, two were a result of flying debris, one from a collapsed roadway and the others were due to flooding.

'Lenny' has been retired from the name list and replaced with 'Lee.