This is Bertha, and my other sister, Bertha

I used to watch the Bob Newhart Show, and would always laugh when Larry, Darryl and Darryl entered a scene. To have two characters named Darryl is not that funny, but to have two brothers named Darryl was a hoot! In the same context, two tropical storms or hurricanes that share the same name is common, but to have those two storms almost identical is just plain weird.

Before I compare the twin Berthas, let me give a history of the storms named Bertha over the years:

2008 - Bertha became a hurricane this morning, and we are still watching this storm.

2002 - This Bertha was a weak 35 mph tropical storm that affected Louisiana and Texas.

1996 - A Category 3 hurricane that hit North Carolina.

1990 - A weak category 1 hurricane that stayed off the East Coast of the US, and hit Nova Scotia.

1984 - A weak tropical storm that stayed out to sea.

Bertha has been used as a tropical storm name five times. The name has not been retired, and the name Bertha did not replace a retired "B" storm name. The list of hurricane names was re-vamped in 1979 to add male names, and Bertha was included in that initial batch of names.

Now, the strange part. The twin Berthas are this year's hurricane, and the hurricane that hit North Carolina in 1996. The similarities are eerie. They are both July storms that formed unusually far east. This year’s Bertha set a record for the farthest east a storm has formed in July at 25 degrees west longitude, just off the Cape Verde Islands near Africa! While Bertha 1996 was not a record setter, it still formed unusually far east at 37W. Only seven other storms have formed east of 40W during the month of July since 1851.

Our Bertha (2008) was named July 3rd. The older Bertha was named July 5th…. But both strengthened into hurricanes on the same day, July7th! Both of the Berthas also became major, category three hurricanes.

The paths of the two storms show similarities as well. They both spent their first few days moving in a constant WNW direction.


1996


2008

There are some important differences. Bertha ’08 formed much farther north than Bertha ’96, and has maintained a track that is farther north. This is important, because you may be noticing that in 1996, Hurricane Bertha made landfall in North Carolina, as a hurricane with 100 mph winds. This is unlikely to happen with Bertha 2008. Our Bertha will likely make a curve northward and stay well east of the Carolinas.

We will notice some bigger waves from Bertha, similar to the Bertha waves of ’96. We’ll be watching this year’s Bertha, and hopefully be saying “goodbye…. See you in 2014!”

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