The most significant cyclones in Martinique
Cyclones in Martinique are a little rarer than on the islands further north. In recent years, the most notable season is that of 2007 with the passage of Hurricane Dean in Category 1 to 2 (August 17, 2007) about fifteen km south of Martinique in the Saint-Lucie 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 kmh and significant problems with the electrical 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. 8 cyclones directly affected the island and 9 others passed within 30 km.
On the other hand, of the 8 cyclones whose center directly affected Martinique, all 8 passed the tropical storm stage and no hurricane has directly impacted the island since 1950. Of the 9 that passed within 30 km, it there have been 3 tropical storms, 3 hurricanes from Cat. 1, 1 Category 2, 1 major hurricane Cat. 4 and one of Cat.5.
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 thirty km northeast of Martinique in Cat. 3 before devastating the island of Dominica (in Category 5) and passing a little south-west of Guadeloupe (in Category 4) causing much damage on the Saintes archipelago and 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 17 cyclones passed over or near Martinique in 73 years, the statistical frequency of passage is once every 3,8 seasons on average.
Statistics on cyclones in Martinique
| West Indian Arc | Martinique | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct Impact | % bow | less than 30 km | % bow | Frequency | ||
| Total | 111 | 8 | 7.21% | 9 | 8.11% | 4.4 years |
| - Tropical storm | 79 | 8 | 10.13% | 3 | 3.8% | 6.8 years |
| - Hurricane Cat.1 | 12 | 0 | 0% | 3 | 25% | 25 years |
| - Hurricane Cat.2 | 6 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 16.67% | 75 years |
| - Hurricane Cat.3 | 6 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | — |
| - Hurricane Cat.4 | 6 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 16.67% | 75 years |
| - Hurricane Cat.5 | 2 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 50% | 75 years |
