Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 9, 2013

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Satellite image of Hurricane Debbie taken by the TIROS I satellite on September 11, 1961

Hurricane Debbie was the most powerful cyclone on record to strike Ireland in September. The fourth named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Debbie originated from a well-defined tropical disturbance that was first identified in late August over Central Africa. Tracking generally westward, the system moved off the coast of Senegal on September 5 into the Atlantic Ocean. On September 6, Debbie passed through the southern Cape Verde Islands as a strong tropical storm and resulted in a plane crash that killed 60 people. Thereafter its location was uncertain until September 10 and on the following day, Debbie attained its peak intensity as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale, with maximum winds of 120 mph (195 km/h). Gradually weakening, it passed over the western Azores as a minimal hurricane on September 15 and skirted the coast of Western Ireland on September 16 as a powerful storm. It brought record winds to much of the country, with a peak gust of 114 mph (183 km/h) measured just offshore, causing widespread damage and disruption, killing 12 people (and a further 6 people in Northern Ireland) and caused US$40–50 million in damage. (Full article...)

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