Tropical Storm Ana

North Atlantic Ocean, April 21–24, 2003 

A preseason surprise, Tropical Storm Ana formed to the south-southeast of Bermuda on April 21, 2003. It was the earliest tropical cyclone formation in the North Atlantic since Subtropical Storm One formed on January 18, 1978, and the first April tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin. A more powerful system than the 1978 incarnation, Tropical Storm Ana developed from a subtropical storm that had originated on April 20 and possessed a central pressure of 29.41 inches (996 mb) and 52- MPH (84-km/h) winds. A short-lived system, Ana tracked almost due eastward into the mid-Atlantic, where it essentially merged into a frontal system and dissipated three days later. While Ana never made landfall, it did indirectly cause the deaths of two mariners in Florida whose craft was overturned by its large swells on April 20.

The 2003 North Atlantic system was the fourth to bear the name Ana. The first appeared on June 19, 1979, in the form of a tropical storm that had originated in the western North Atlantic Ocean, drifted almost due westward across the Windward Islands, and entered the Caribbean Sea before dissipating on the 24th of the month. At one time a relatively powerful tropical storm with a central pressure of 29.67 inches (1005 mb) and 58-MPH (93-km/h) winds, Tropical Storm Ana had weakened as it crossed the Windward Islands, its central pressure rising to 29.88 inches (1,012 mb) and its wind speeds dropping to 40 MPH (64 km/h).

While avoiding landfall for the duration of its existence, the second Tropical Storm Ana was a marginally more intense tropical cyclone than its 1979 predecessor. Born over the mid-Atlantic Ocean on July 15, 1985, Ana recurved to the northeast around Bermuda and sped into the extreme North Atlantic before fading off the Canadian Maritimes on July 19. A central pressure of 29.41 inches (996 mb) produced sustained winds of 69 MPH (111 km/h), but no deaths or damage assessments.

On June 30, 1991, a strengthening Tropical Depression Ana—the third such system to bear the name—sliced across the Florida peninsula, its central pressure of 29.88 inches (1,012 mb) producing 23- MPH (37-km/h) winds and pounding rains. Before dissipating over the Atlantic on July 5, 1991, Ana

reached tropical storm intensity, with a central pressure of 29.52 inches (1,000 mb) and sustained winds of 52 MPH (84 km/h). No lives were lost due to Ana’s early-season passage across Florida. The name Ana has been retained on the rotating list of North Atlantic tropical cyclone identifiers, and

is scheduled to reappear in 2009.