Tropical Storm Nadine 2012: Still Alive And Swirling Into The Record Books
Making history as one of the longest lasting tropical storms to date, Nadine is still swirling along in the Atlantic Ocean. Roughly at the same latitude as North Carolina, the natural disaster has now been a storm for 20 days. If the tropical system can last it out another week, it would break the all-time record for longevity. However, if the storm would die out sooner, it would still go into the record books, as only seven tropical storms have remained for a longer period of time.
The current tropical storm record holder is the San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899, which was a feat set before any satellites or aircrafts were used to reveal both images and details on a storm's lifespan.
Accuweather Meteorologist Mark Paquette spoke to the Herald Tribune regarding the incredible sustainability of Nadine.
"You usually don't see a tropical storm stick around at 35 degrees northern latitude for very long."
Nadine had formed in the north-central part of the Atlantic on Sept. 11 and was the last tropical storm to spur up this year. Only four storms have lasted longer than it since 1960.
As recently as Tuesday, the respective storm was still producing winds clocked at 65 mph. Nadine was forecasted to stay at tropical storm strength until Thursday. If it makes it until then, the storm would surpass 1966's Inez (which lasted 20.25 days) andtie 2002's Kyle (22 days).
In September, Nadine had grown steadily into a hurricane and was heading east toward Europe. However, it did downgrade into a tropical storm on Sept. 16 and then changed direction by going southwest of the Azores until it ultimately fell apart on Sept. 21.
Although hurricane season usually lasts until Nov. 30, a storm has not threatened the United States since Hurricane Isaac in August.
