All this week we will be watching the future movement of Hurricane Bertha, the first hurricane of the 2008 season. You’ll find lots of information about this storm here on our web site, including the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center, satellite photographs and the latest statistics.
It is not the first time a “Bertha” has prowled the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, historical records from the National Hurricane Center web site (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/) reveal that we’ve dealt with a Bertha twice in recent history. And, in both instances, Bertha was a trouble maker.
In August of 2002, Tropical Storm Bertha formed in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm, top winds of 40 mph, made landfall across southern Louisiana dumping as much as eight inches of rain across the region. Then, just when forecasters figured Bertha was done, she reformed in the Gulf and made a second landfall in Texas. She dumped a lot of rain but didn’t cause any significant problems across the Gulf coast states.
The Bertha of 1996, however, was much stronger and caused widespread death and destruction in North Carolina. Like her distant cousin in 2008, Bertha of 1996 formed in the eastern Atlantic and quickly intensified into a category 2 hurricane. (Bertha, 1996 intensified into a hurricane July 7, 1996. Exactly 12 years later, Bertha 2008 did the same).
Bertha, 1996 briefly took aim at Florida before turning to the north and slamming into North Carolina. The storm produced more than $250 million in damages and claimed eight lives.
Let’s hope that this year’s version of Bertha stays far away from land.
