So, now that we've given you snapshots of what landfall for Hurricane Nana looked like on the ground, we turn now to a more scientific assessment of the storm.
This evening, we spoke via telephone with one of the meteorologists at the National Met Service. She told us about the path it took, and the latest update on its quick degradation:
Michelle Augustine - Meteorologist, National Met Service
"Hurricane Nana, according to the National Hurricane Center, made landfall on the coast of Belize between Dangriga and Placencia, and that was about 35 miles north northeast of Monkey River Town. Around that time, the strongest winds that the system here at the airport picked up - or that we have across the country - was recorded in Dangriga, 52 miles per hour. Well, that is wind gusts, alright, up to 52 miles per hour, but sustained winds were near 37 miles per hour. However, at Caribou Caye, where there is a met station there - not a property of the Met Service, but at Caribou Caye, they recorded wind gusts of 75 miles per hour, and averaged winds were at 61 miles per hour. That was around 11:42 p.m. last night. Nana was a very small hurricane or a small storm, I should say, and then it became a hurricane. So, the hurricane-force winds only extended about 10 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extended about 70 miles from the center. So, it was a very small hurricane. Usually, the strongest winds are found in the northeast part of the eyewall. But, because Nana was such a small hurricane, that was a very small area, as I said, 10 miles. That is why there was not that much damage further north, or further south the system making landfall. Nana's path took it south between Dangriga Town and Placencia, and then it moved toward Sittee [River], and, I believe it's the Silk Grass area. That part of the country was where it eventually moved in, and it moved further inland during the early part of this morning. The latest advisory, at 3 o'clock actually, Nana was downgraded to a tropical depression. So, it's even weaker now than it was earlier this morning, immediately after landfall over the Coast of Belize. So, right now, it's a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds near 35 miles per hour, so a pretty weak system at the moment."
