3rd Hurricane of season above 40N

[tropicana]

ALEX became a major hurricane ..and was the strongest hurricane on record to strengthen north of 38N ..it went from 105mph to 120mph in just 6 hours sitting over 26C waters on Aug 4.

KARL was at 90mph on reaching Lat 38N on Sept 23...and was in a weakening phase as it passed Lat 40N a day later, (85mph) at a position slightly west of where LISA is.

LISA became a HURRICANE north of 38N Oct 1, weakened and again this morning (Oct 2) re-intensified to a hurricane north of 40N with 75mph winds...over 23C waters.

I suspect not very many systems intensify to hurricanes north of 38N because by the time they get to these latitudes, they are in a weakening phase.

What was the last system on record to intensify to a hurricane north of 38N (let alone 40N) in the Atlantic basin?

-justin-

[Hurricanehink]

Surprisingly, Lisa in 1998 became a hurricane past 40º North. Strange huh?

[Anonymous]

The name Lisa does not scare me. Even in my hypothetical forecast, Lisa was:
Tropical Storm Lisa
Sept 19-26
65 mph
990 MB
A wave comes off of Africa on the 19th, and is a tropical storm 24 hours later. Lisa moves erratic for five days and then turns west after a peak of 65 mph, and weakens 200 miles south of the Azores.

[tropicana]

Surprisingly, Lisa in 1998 became a hurricane past 40º North. Strange huh?

Wow, yeah... i just checked that. LISA of 1998 became a Hurricane (75mph) on Oct 9, at a Latitude north of 43N, while traversing north at 44mph!
Now that is rare.
-justin-

[Hurricanehink]

OK, just did a history search. It turns out this year isn't so rare. Many hurricanes that were strong at southerly latitudes retained at least hurricane strength at far latitudes. I will exclude them... From 1960-2004...
Far north Tropical storms that became hurricanes (37.5º or greater):
Danny- 2003 (39.2º), Gustav- 2002 (38.0º), Noel- 2001 (37.8º), Lisa- 1998 (41.6º), Bill- 1997 (37.9º), Floyd- 1993 (41.7º), Perfect Storm- 1991 (38.2º), Charley- 1980 (39.6º), Georges- 1980 (40.2º), Karl- 1980 (37.7º), Evelyn- 1977 (39.2º), Candice- 1976 (41.2º), Betty- 1972 (38.8º), Hurricane #2- 1971 (46º- Note: The storm was moving rather rapidly at the time and it may have been extratropical), Arlene- 1967 (37.6º), Becky- 1966 (37.6º), Anna- 1965 (37.5º)

Far north hurricanes that become major hurricanes (35 or greater):
Alberto- 2000 (35.1º), Bob- 1991 (36.5º), Debby- 1982 (37.6º- Note: Debby reached Cat. 4 strength at 38.8º), Ella- 1978 (Note: Ella reached major status near 30º, but it re-reached it at 36.2º and became a Cat. 4 at 38º), Becky- 1974 (37.3º), Ellen- 1973 (42.1º- Note: It is possible that the storm was extratropical at the time, and that may be changed upon re-analysis), Gerda- 1969 (37.8º)

[tropicana]

thanks hurricanehink for that insightful bit of info.
Appreciated!
But it would be fair to say that 3 hurricanes in 1 season over 40N is a bit rare.

-justin-

[ColdFront77]

Surprisingly, Lisa in 1998 became a hurricane past 40º North. Strange huh?

On a somewhat related note: The years we had Andrew, Bonnie, Charley, Danielle and Earl (1986),
and these five plus Frances (1992) were "slow" years. The list, both years, of course included Lisa.