Nadine, Yet Another Zombie Storm

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

September 28, 2012; 5:40PM,EDT

 

 

 

 

Nadine is a storm that came back to life and just won't die over the Central Atlantic.
The reborn tropical system has become a hurricane once again as of Friday, Sept. 28, 2012.
Nadine, or the circulation from Nadine, formed the same day of the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the United States embassy in Cairo, Egypt, and the consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Nadine was first named a tropical storm on Sept. 12, the day after a circulation was acknowledged.
Nadine has certainly had its ups and downs since then. After becoming a hurricane for the first time on Sept. 15, it transitioned to non-tropical system on Sept. 21. On Sept. 24, the system regained tropical status.
 
This image of Hurricane Nadine was taken on Friday, Sept. 28, 2012 by METEOSAT-8.

The system has almost completed a large loop over the Central Atlantic, and it is possible that it will swing close enough to bother the Azores all over again next week.
As of Sept. 28, Nadine has been a tropical depression or stronger for approximately 16 days.
The longest-lived tropical cyclone (a tropical depression, tropical storm or hurricane) in the Atlantic Basin on record is Hurricane San Ciriaco of 1899 with a lifespan of 28 days. Hurricane Ginger of 1971 was a close second with 27.25 days.
San Ciriaco, like Nadine, also had a period of where it was not considered to be a tropical system and then regenerated. However, it is Ginger that has the Atlantic consecutive-day record.
1994's John in the Pacific holds the global upper hand with a tropical cyclone duration record of 31 days. John wandered the northeast and northwest Pacific basins exchanging hurricane/typhoon designations.
Nadine is not likely to break Ginger's or San Ciriaco's records or to survive until Halloween.
Meteorologists in the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center expect Nadine to be absorbed and torn up by a non-tropical storm system, projected to move over the North Atlantic later next week. Prior to this, squalls and rough seas may again visit the Azores next week as Nadine begins a northward turn.
Only if Nadine were to continue wandering south through next week would it avoid being caught up in the North Atlantic storm's circulation.
Nadine is considered to be a Cape Verde system as it had its origins near the group of islands by the same name, just off the west coast of Africa.