Gamma dissipates near eastern tip of Honduras by Jo Farrow
After killing 32 people and leaving many thousands homeless in Honduras, the 24th major storm of the Atlantic season was dissipating on Tuesday off the eastern tip of the Central American country. Many more are feared dead after mudslides buried two remote villages in the eastern province of Olancho.
Honduras and neighbouring countries have been badly hit by tropical cyclones this year; flooding and mudslides caused by Hurricane Stan killed nearly 2,000 people in Central America in October. Hurricane Wilma also passed by in October, and just a few weeks ago Hurricane Beta made landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 2 storm.
For now there are no other Atlantic storms to watch, but with about a week left in the 2005 season there is still time for more to form. In fact, forecasters are keeping an eye on a non-tropical low pressure system in the central Atlantic, around 950 miles west-southwest of the Azores. It is showing signs of organisation, but currently conditions in the upper atmosphere are not ideal for further development. However the system could still develop tropical characteristics in the next couple of days, and if the upper atmosphere becomes more favourable, there is potential for it to develop into a tropical cyclone.
Meanwhile in the southern Indian Ocean, around 420 miles west of the Cocos Islands, Severe Tropical Cyclone Bertie is strengthening as it moves southwestward. It currently has mean winds of 90 mph (145 km/h), but it is no threat to land.
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