Tropical Cyclone Report

Tropical Depression Ten

This depression originated from a tropical wave that crossed the coast of Africa on 29 August. The wave was accompanied by a well-organized area of disturbed weather that passed just north of the Cape Verde Islands early on 30 August. The disturbance moved westward over the eastern Atlantic for a couple of days, and then turned northwestward, northward, and northeastward while becoming less organized. However, on 7 September, a low-level circulation was evident, and although southwesterly shear was displacing most of the thunderstorms from the center, the deep convection was sufficiently close to the center to qualify the system as a tropical depression by 1200 UTC that day, while centered about 630 n mi southwest of the westernmost Azores. The cyclone did not strengthen significantly, since deep convection continued to be sheared northeastward from the center. Early on 9 September, the depression's motion became slow and erratic. Meanwhile, deep convection had become sheared far enough away from the center to cause the system to degenerate to a remnant low by 1200 UTC that day. The low turned southeastward and east-southeastward, and dissipated around 1800 UTC 10 September, about 230 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Azores. Table 1 lists the "best track" of this tropical cyclone, and Figure 1 displays this best track.

Figure 1: Best track positions for Tropical Depression Ten, 7-9 September 2004.