Chantal (2013)

A compact tropical cyclone formed from a tropical wave in the far eastern Atlantic and became Tropical Storm Chantal at 1200 UTC on 7 July 2013 about 9.3°N, 41.4°W. The storm raced west-northwest across the central tropical Atlantic, passed through the central Lesser Antilles on 9 July, and entered the eastern Caribbean Sea. Chantal weakened quickly over the Caribbean and lost its closed circulation late on 10 July; its mid-level remnants continued northwest across Cuba and the Bahamas before becoming untrackable by 13 July.

Chantal did not make a U.S. landfall. Its main passage through land areas occurred in the central Lesser Antilles on 9 July as the center moved just south of Martinique and between Martinique and Dominica. No other official tropical-storm-force landfalls are listed in the report; the circulation dissipated over the central Caribbean south of Hispaniola on 10 July.

The storm’s peak intensity was estimated at 55 kt (about 63 mph) with a minimum central pressure of 1003 mb around 1200 UTC 9 July. Aircraft measured a peak 1-minute surface wind of 60 kt (reduced to 56 kt at 10 m) and a flight-level (850 mb) wind of 77 kt; the official best-track peak is 55 kt, making Chantal a moderate tropical storm at its strongest.

Observed storm surge and rainfall were mostly limited to the Lesser Antilles. Rainfall totals on Martinique ranged from about 25 to 100 mm (1 to 4 inches) across much of the island, with higher localized amounts shown on the island rainfall map; specific station totals included 118.8 mm at Anse D’Arlet, 101.0 mm at Trois-Îlets, and 80.0 mm at Rivière-Pilote. Peak wind reports on Martinique included a 1-minute wind of 60 kt (Trinité station) and sustained winds of 44–48 kt at Fort-de-France and Vauclin. The report did not cite measured storm surge heights at named locations.

Heavy winds and rain caused roof damage, power outages, and several landslides in the Lesser Antilles, with minimal overall damage reported there and no casualties. In the Dominican Republic one direct death was reported: a 26-year-old firefighter in Maimon swept away by floodwaters while clearing a drain. Hispaniola saw flooding but limited impacts due to the storm’s fast forward speed.

Noteworthy aspects: Chantal was unusually fast-moving for a deep-tropical Atlantic system, with a six-hour forward motion near 28 kt — the fastest observed in the tropical Atlantic (south of 20°N) in the satellite era (since 1966). Its rapid motion and small size complicated early forecasting and led to larger-than-average track errors at some lead times; genesis was not well predicted and tropical-storm warnings were issued less than 12 hours before impacts in parts of the Lesser Antilles.