Hurricanes and the Making of Caribbean History
The 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane1899 San Ciriaco hurricane hit Puerto Rico, whose economy relied on coffee. The crop had already been facing problems with a decrease in prices and competing countries, but the hurricane wiped out any chance of rebounding from the losses of the previous years. The winds stripped the berries from the trees and the coffee exports of 1899 were only 10 percent of the average export. The losses amounted to 12 million dollars in revenue from 1899 to 1901. This left a dismal outlook on the future for farmers. Sugar was also affected by the storm, although the results were not as drastic. Only a third of the sugar crop could be harvested in 1899, but the soil was reinvigorated. The storm only affected the older haciendas, which would have been retired soon regardless of the hurricane. This allowed for newer technologies to be introduced to the sugar system and U.S. involvement increased. Overall, San Ciriaco helped and hurt the agriculture of Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Stan
Located to the south of a low to mid-level tropospheric ridge, the depression tracked towards the west-northwest. Within a few hours of being warned upon, the system further intensified into Tropical Storm Stan. This followed the development of a strong convective banding feature to the southeast of the storm's center. Around 1000 UTC (5 a.m. CDT) on October 2, Stan made its first landfall near Punta Hualaxtoc, Mexico, roughly 35 mi (55 km) south of Tulum, with winds of 40 mph (65 km/h). Over the following 18 hours, the weak storm traversed the southern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula. Upon entering the Gulf of Mexico on October 3, Stan had weakened to a tropical depression; however, convection began to redevelop over the storm's center, allowing the system to re-attain tropical storm status.
A strong area of high pressure over the western Gulf of Mexico forced the storm to turn southwestward, back to the Mexican coastline. Increasingly deep cloud cover formed over the storm in response to a favorable environment over the Bay of Campeche. Late on October 3, forecasters at National Hurricane Center noted a statistical rapid intensity index indicating a 49% chance of Stan undergoing rapid intensification before its final landfall. This intensification did take place within 12 hours before the hurricane moved onshore. Overnight, the structure of Stan rapidly improved, with a banding eye-feature developing within unusually deep convection with cloud-top temperatures measured at by infrared satellites. Following this development, National Hurricane Center upgraded the storm to a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. Around 1200 UTC on October 4, Stan made landfall near Punta Roca Partida, with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). The storm also attained its lowest barometric pressure of 977 mbar (hPa; 28.85 inHg)at this time. Not long after moving over the mountainous terrain of central Mexico, Stan rapidly weakened to a tropical depression and fully dissipated early on October 5 over the state of Oaxaca.