The 2000 Atlantic hurricane season was an active season. This season featured a total of 19 tropical cyclones, 14 named storms, 1 unnamed subtropical storm, 8 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. The two most notable storms were Keith, and Leslie. Keith, the strongest storm of the season, struck Belize as a Category 3, causing 40 direct deaths, and $319 Million 2000 USD in damage. While Leslie's precursor tropical wave, dropped torrential rainfall over Cuba and Florida, causing over $950 Million 2000 USD in damage.
Alberto was a long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that remained at sea through its lifetime. It is the longest-lived Atlantic tropical cyclone to form in August, and the third-longest lived of record in the Atlantic. Alberto’s track included intensifying into a hurricane three times, a large anticyclonic loop that took five days, and extratropical transition near 53 N.[1]
Beryl was a weak tropical storm that moved over the southwest Gulf of Mexico and across the northeast coast of Mexico, and eventually dissipated inland over the mountains of northern Mexico.[2]
Debby struck the islands of the northeast Caribbean as a 65-knot hurricane, but the impact was not very significant. It appeared that Debby was going to be a significant threat to south Florida, but the system dissipated rather unexpectedly.[4]
Hurricane Florence was a category one hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) of subtropical origins that passed within about 65 n mi of Bermuda.[6]
Gordon became a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but eventually made landfall in the Florida Big Bend area as a weakening tropical storm.[7]
Helene made landfall as a minimal tropical storm near Fort Walton Beach, Florida and redeveloped into a strong tropical storm over the North Atlantic.[8]
Isaac was a Cape Verde hurricane that followed a long, parabolic path over the eastern half of the Atlantic. Its maximum sustained winds reached an estimated 120 kt, tying it with Keith for the strongest hurricane of the season.[9]
Joyce was an 80-knot hurricane east of the Windward Islands, but was weakening from a tropical storm to a depression when it passed through the Windward Islands.[10]
Keith was a rapidly-intensifying tropical cyclone over the northwestern Caribbean Sea, reaching Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale as it stalled just off the coast of Belize. Keith affected the coastal islands of Belize as a Category 3 hurricane, but weakened to a tropical storm before actually making landfall in mainland Belize. After weakening to a tropical depression while crossing the Yucatan Peninsula, Keith re-intensified over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and made landfall in northeastern Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane.[11]
Leslie was a short-lived tropical storm that developed from Subtropical Depression One off the east coast of Florida, and subsequently moved northeastward over the western Atlantic. Although neither Leslie nor the subtropical depression was responsible for any damage or casualties, a precursor disturbance combined with a stalled frontal boundary to produce very heavy rainfall, and flood damage estimated at $950 million in southeast Florida on 2-3 October. Three deaths in south Florida were indirectly attributable to the flooding.[12]
Michael was a short-lived category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale that developed from subtropical origins off the northeast coast of Florida. Michael moved northeastward over the western and northern Atlantic as a tropical cyclone and eventually crossed Newfoundland as a strong extratropical low pressure system.[13]
In Spring 2001, it was announced the World Meteorological Organization had retired the name Keith for the damage and deaths caused in Belize. It was replaced by Keith for the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, however due to the lack of activity that year, Kirk wasn't used until the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season.