User:X!/Nora

Hurricane Nora was the 12th tropical cyclone of the 2003 Pacific hurricane season. It was the strongest hurricane of the season, peaking at a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Nora developed from a tropical wave that developed off the coast of Africa on September 13. Despite failing multiple opportunities to develop, the formation continued to move westward beyond the southern coast of Mexico. On October 1, located about 525 nm from the southern tip of Baja California, the system was officially classified as Tropical Depression Eighteen-E. It moved slowly west-northwestward, reaching hurricane classification on October 4. As it moved northwestward, it sharply turned to the east ahead of a middle-level trough. The hurricane, weakened by the trough, moved onto the Mexican coast, where it dissipated quickly. On October 9, it was declassified to a tropical storm, followed by a remnant low shortly thereafter.

Meteorological History
Nora had developed from a tropical wave that moved off the west coast of Africa on September 13. The wave had various attempts to develop while it moved westward across the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The wave crossed Central America accompanied by some thunderstorms on September 25. This main shower activity continued westward near the southern coast of Mexico. After a while the wave began to organize and on October 1 the wave became Tropical Depression Eighteen-E.

Upon becoming a tropical cyclone, it was foretasted to strengthen into a tropical storm before weakening. The depression was located 525 nautical miles south of the southern tip of Baja California. As expected, the depression slowly intensified into a minimal tropical storm and thus was given the name Nora the next day. By the afternoon hours Nora was an organized storm. A ragged band formed as it intensity strengthened slightly. On the morning of October 3, Nora intensified and became a moderate tropical storm. Later that day, it continued to intensify and organize and reached sustained winds of 65 mi/h.

Nora became a hurricane during the overnight hours when the cloud patterns improved, Nora continued to intensify, and by midday on the Nora was a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. Shortly thereafter, convection of Nora began fluctuating, though convection initially remained strong. However, Nora weakened during the overnight hours as the eye collapsed, and by the morning Nora had weakened back to Category 1 status. Nora continued to weaken and was downgraded to a tropical storm the next day as it received an outflow from Hurricane Olaf. On October 9th Nora made landfall in Mexico as it weakened to tropical depression status and became a remnant low shortly thereafter.

Preparations and Impact
The National Hurricane Center had issued no watches and warnings since Nora was expected to reach land as a tropical depression. Hurricane Nora brought heavy rain to the state of Sinaloa. However despite this there were no known injuries or deaths caused directly or indirectly. As Nora moved into inland Mexico as a low-level remnant swirl, rain amounts near its point of landfall were considerably less than over Sinaloa. The highest rainfall total was 95.3 mm in Mazatlan, Sinaloa.