ICYMI: AccuWeather's 2023 US spring forecast is out. Get the details. Chevron right

Ashburn, VA

50°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Ashburn

Virginia

50°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Video

Podcasts

Winter Center

News & Features AccuWeather Prime Astronomy Business Climate Health Recreation Sports Travel

News / Hurricane

Why Cristobal is a rare 'crossover' storm

By John Roach, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Jun 5, 2020 11:52 AM EST

Copied
Live Coverage For all things weather, 24 hours a day.

Hotels and the tourism industry are set to reopen on June 8, but Tropical Depression Cristobal impacts may delay reopening.

Tropical Storm Cristobal already has claimed its fame as the earliest third named tropical storm system on record in the Atlantic basin. It also did something else that had AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski saying, “This does not happen very often.” 

Cristobal developed from the leftovers of Tropical Storm Amanda, the first named storm of the Pacific hurricane season. Amanda pummeled areas of Central America during the final weekend of May, causing at least 26 deaths and forcing at least 8,000 people to be evacuated in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. 

Amanda appeared to wrap up off the coast of Guatemala, but then it moved inland over the country, which is “rare to see … let alone during late May,” Kottlowski said. 

A satellite image showing Cristobal moving over southern Mexico on Thursday, June 4, 2020. (NOAA)

(NOAA)

“Once Amanda moved inland, the lower-level part of the storm fell apart, but the upper-level part survived and moved to the western Yucatan,” Kottlowski said. “Cristobal’s development was associated with a large counter-clockwise wind pattern referred to as a gyre. The Central American Gyre (CAG) is more common during the late summer and fall season.”

In this instance, the gyre’s circulation forced what was left of Amanda to move back over very warm water in the southern Bay of Campeche “and a low-level circulation quickly formed under that upper-level feature,” Kottlowski said. “It did not take time – given the 29- to 30-degree-Celsius [mid-80s F] water – to help create thunderstorms, lowering pressure and a coherent low-level circulation which has become Cristobal.”

“The very warm water has been the key to early-season development, and a favorable upper-level wind pattern has made it possible for Cristobal to form,” Kottlowski said. “You don’t usually see this total connection in late May or early June. Typically, the upper-level pattern creates too much shear this early in the season," he explained. Wind shear is the difference in horizontal wind speed and direction between two vertical levels, usually between 5,000 feet and 40,000 feet. This change in wind speed and direction can limit storm formation and strengthening.

“This setup,” Kottlowski added, “does not happen but maybe once every five to 10 years and to get a storm to fully develop is even more unusual.” 

Hurricanes very rarely cross over from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic basin; most of the hurricanes that have crossed over, records show, have taken a path from the Atlantic basin to the Pacific basin. The last hurricane to move from the Pacific to the Atlantic was Hermine in 2010, and before that was an unnamed hurricane in 1949. There are just three previous such hurricanes on record going back to 1842. 

Similarly, crossover tropical storms don’t usually move from the Pacific basin to the Atlantic basin, either. Cristobal is the first since Tropical Storm Trudy became Tropical Storm Hanna in 2014. Records show just two other Pacific-to-Atlantic tropical storms since 1955. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

“It’s easier during the latter part of the season for the remnants of one storm in the Atlantic basin to move into the Pacific basin due to persistent warm water and lower shear, especially during August through October,” Kottlowski said. “It’s very difficult to have the remnants of one storm become a hurricane going from one basin to another due to the disruption of the storm’s circulation over land.”

Cristobal started as a tropical storm but weakened to a depression Thursday morning as it moved over Guatemala, but it strengthened back to a tropical storm Friday. On Sunday evening, Cristobal made landfall along the coast of Louisiana. 

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. 

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Winter Weather

Stunning videos capture the full scope of Southern ice storm

Feb. 5, 2023
Sports

Cold weather, short field produce bumps in road to the Kentucky Derby

Feb. 3, 2023
Weather News

Old photo inspired park ranger to explore hidden history of Yosemite

Feb. 3, 2023
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

News & Features

AccuWeather Prime

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

Top Stories

Winter Weather

Mount Washington’s astonishing RealFeel Temp in record territory

2 hours ago

Severe Weather

Severe weather, flooding threats loom for Texas to Ohio this week

1 hour ago

Winter Weather

Weekend storm to give way to pattern change in California

2 hours ago

Weather Forecasts

Spring to bring more snow chances, AccuWeather experts say

1 day ago

Winter Weather

Why sudden loud booms sometimes occur when it’s very cold outside

1 day ago

More Stories

Featured Topic

Tips to cope with winter weather

Featured Stories

Weather News

US fighter jets shoot down Chinese spy balloon off East Coast

21 hours ago

Weather News

Cold weather testing: Airplanes endure punishing extremes

2 days ago

Astronomy

Where will snow fall as the Snow Moon rises this weekend?

8 hours ago

AccuWeather Hurricane Why Cristobal is a rare 'crossover' storm
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2023 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK