Author(s)

Yehia Hafez^*, Abdulhaleem Labban

Department of Meteorology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, KSA.

As one of very rare and unusual tracks of hurricane Ophelia, it exists over the North Atlantic Ocean during the period of 9-17 October 2017. The present work investigates the role played by blocking system over North America on the development of hurricane Ophelia. The 6-hour daily data of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis composites for the meteorological parameters are used. The meteorological elements used in the present work are (geopotential height and meridional wind components at 500-hpa level). The domain of this data is the northern hemisphere domain. Moreover, the 6-hour data on the surface pressure at the center of hurricane Ophelia and its maximum wind through the period (9-17 October) have been used. The time series, anomaly and correlation coefficient methods have been used to analyze the meteorological data. The results revealed that the persistence of blocking high system over the North America during the period of 9-17 October 2017 controls the development, strength, and the track of hurricane Ophelia over the North Atlantic Ocean.

Blocking System, North America, North Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Ophelia

Hafez, Y. and Labban, A. (2018) The Role Played by Blocking System over North America on the Development of Hurricane Ophelia over North Atlantic Ocean. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 6, 1-20. doi: 10.4236/gep.2018.612001.