The most significant cyclones in Martinique
Cyclones in Martinique are a little rarer than on the islands further north (even if it does not matter much). Over the last few years, the most striking season has been that of 2007 with the passage of hurricane Dean in Category 2 (August 17, 2007) about fifteen km south of Martinique in the Saint Lucia channel. The official human toll is 2 deaths. There was a lot of material damage on the southern half of the island affected by winds between 150 and 200 km / h and major problems on the power and telephone lines sometimes lasting several weeks.
No cyclone threatens Martinique
The level of alertness is GREEN
General information about Martinique
Martinique is an island in the French Antilles with approximately 370.000 inhabitants spread over 34 municipalities and over 1.128 km².
The history of cyclones in Martinique is well provided since 1950. 7 cyclones directly affected the island and 9 others passed within 30 km.
Of the 7 cyclones whose center directly affected Martinique, the 7 have gone to the stage of tropical storms. Of the 11 past within 30 km, there have been 7 tropical storms, 3 Cat hurricanes. 1 and 1 major hurricane of Cat. 4.
More recently we can note the passage of tropical storm Chantal on July 9, 2013, also a little to the south in the Saint Lucia channel. Wind gusts of more than 120 km / h and especially heavy rainfalls affected the island.
Even more recently, the terrible hurricane Maria passed around 3 km northeast of Martinique (in Category XNUMX just before the NHC classifies it in Category 5) before ravaging the island of Dominica (in Category 5) and passing a little to the southwest of Guadeloupe (in Category 4) causing extensive damage to the archipelago of Saintes and on Basse-Terre.
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Did you know?
The most violent cyclone passed near Martinique is Hurricane David which passed on August 29, 1979 at roughly the same place as Maria but in Category 4. The years 1951 and 1995 each saw 2 cyclones pass on or near the Martinique
With 16 cyclones passed over or near Martinique in 69 years, the statistical frequency of passage is once every 4,3 seasons on average.
Statistics on cyclones in Martinique
| West Indian Arc | Martinique | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct Impact | % bow | less than 30 km | % bow | Frequency | ||
| Total | 104 | 8 | 7.69% | 9 | 8.65% | 4.3 years |
| - Tropical storm | 74 | 8 | 10.81% | 3 | 4.05% | 6.6 years |
| - Hurricane Cat.1 | 11 | 0 | 0% | 3 | 27.27% | 24.3 years |
| - Hurricane Cat.2 | 6 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 16.67% | 73 years |
| - Hurricane Cat.3 | 6 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | — |
| - Hurricane Cat.4 | 5 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 20% | 73 years |
| - Hurricane Cat.5 | 2 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 50% | 73 years |
