Tropical Storm Grace (2009)

**Tropical Storm Grace** was an unusual tropical cyclone that formed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 7th named storm of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season. Grace began over the Azores on October&nbsp;4, and had wind speeds of 65&nbsp;mph (100&nbsp;km/h). However, the storm did not last very long, and cold water temperatures caused it to weaken. The storm died out on October 6 over England. The storm was farther north and east in the Atlantic than most tropical storms.

Grace had only minor effects on land. While it was passing through the Azores, islands near the storm felt strong winds and some rain. In Portugal, the storm partly caused heavy rain that caused flooding. What was left of Tropical Storm Grace hit parts of Ireland and the United Kingdom. In this area,  of rain fell and winds became strong, although there was no bad damage.

## Meteorological history
Tropical Storm Grace came from a large extratropical cyclone that formed on September&nbsp;27, 2009, to the east of Newfoundland. The next day, the convection began to disappear, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) stopped watching it. The storm moved in a loop near the Azores for the next two days. During October&nbsp;4, convection formed again near the center of the storm. It became a tropical storm near São Miguel Island. However, the NHC found later that Grace's highest winds were actually a little weaker, at 65&nbsp;mph (100&nbsp;km/h).

A large cyclone near Grace caused the storm to weaken. By this time, the storm was over  waters, likely stopping further strengthening. Early on October&nbsp;6, Grace merged with a weather front over the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Just before this, the lowest air pressure in the storm was recorded at 986&nbsp;mbar (hPa; 29.12&nbsp;inHg). What was left of Grace continued for about 18 hours before  in the Celtic Sea early on October&nbsp;7.

## Impact and records
When Grace was over the Azores, a few islands had light rain and high winds. Wind gusts reached  on Ponta Delgada. On October&nbsp;6, the storm's rainbands caused heavy rain and strong winds in parts of Portugal. This flooded some streets. In the mountains, wind gusts may have been stronger than .

Because the storm was moving so fast when it reached the United Kingdom, the rain was not heavy. In Ireland,  of rain fell in the city of Cork. Winds in the city were . Rainfall in the country peaked at  in Wexford. The strongest winds were Force 8 on the Beaufort scale, meaning gale-force. Near the coast of Wales, a buoy recorded winds  of , as strong as a small tropical storm. Late on October&nbsp;6, Grace moved over Wales, bringing heavy rain and high winds. A ship called the *Cap Castillo* recorded winds of  on October 5. At that time, the ship was about  south of the storm's center.

The NHC said that the formation of Grace was not  by meteorologists (weather men). The first mention of the low pressure area that became Grace said it would not become a tropical or subtropical storm. For three days, it was not mentioned in the NHC's tropical weather outlooks until just before it became a tropical cyclone. The lack of forecasts was blamed on the storm's unusual location.

## Related pages
*2009 Atlantic hurricane season
*Hurricane Vince (2005)

## References
## Other websites
*The National Hurricane Center's Advisory Archive for Tropical Storm Grace
*The National Hurricane Center's Tropical Cyclone Report on Tropical Storm Grace