page_title: Hurricane Gordon (2006)
section_title: Storm history
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Gordon (2006) / Storm history
caption_attribution_description: Hurricane Gordon was captured at 18:17:13 GMT, Sept. 17, 2006 with a digital still camera, equipped with a 20-35mm lens, by one of the crewmembers aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The center of the storm was located near 34.0 degrees north latitude and 53.0 degrees west longitude, while moving north-northeast. At the time the photo was taken, the sustained winds were 70 nautical miles per hour with gusts to 85 nauticalmiles per hour.
context_page_description: Hurricane Gordon was a strong Category 3 hurricane that crossed the Azores as a Category 1 hurricane, making it the first hurricane to directly impact the Azores since 1991. Gordon's remnants also affected Western Europe. It was the eighth tropical storm, third hurricane and first major hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season.
context_section_description: The original development of this system can be linked to Hurricane Florence. It began as a tropical wave just right behind Florence in the first week of September, which at first was absorbed into the large circulation of then-Tropical Storm Florence. As Florence began to organize and move northwest, the wave managed to break from the circulation again and slowly organize in spite of hostile conditions at first. On September 10, it had organized enough to be declared Tropical Depression Seven northeast of the Lesser Antilles. With Florence far away from the system, conditions became more favorable for development, and it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Gordon on September 11 while moving slowly westward.
  The conditions remained favorable as Gordon steered through a hole in the ridge near the Azores, allowing it to avoid land. It continued to strengthen, becoming a hurricane on September 12 and rapidly organizing into a strong Category 2 hurricane less than 24 hours later. The quick development continued on September 13, and by that evening, it had strengthened into a major hurricane - the first of 2006 - while maintaining a very small size. Gordon would remain a major hurricane for over 24 hours before cooler water began to set in and Gordon gradually weakened, beginning early on September 15.
  The steering currents would also weaken greatly and Gordon became nearly stationary for about 24 hours as well before a trough would come in and push Gordon northeastward. By the morning of September 16, Gordon was barely a hurricane and was forecast to weaken over cooler waters. However, that did not happen, and Gordon actually strengthened a little bit while moving northeastward and became better organized. That trend continued for over 48 hours, and Gordon increased in strength slowly, becoming a Category 2 hurricane. While the forecast constantly showed a weakening trend, the resiliency suddenly meant that the Azores were threatened by Gordon. Gordon reached its secondary peak of 105 mph (165 km/h) on the morning of September 19, before weakening again.
  Nonetheless, it remained a hurricane as it crossed the Azores. Shortly after that it weakened and became extratropical. The remnants of Gordon then began to interact with a large Atlantic low pressure area to the west of Ireland and an associated weather front extending south. It tracked towards the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula and then on September 21 turned northwards towards south-west Britain and Ireland. By the morning of September 22 it had become completely absorbed into the Atlantic low.
caption: Hurricane Gordon as seen from Space Shuttle Atlantis on September 17.
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