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The hurricane that drove the wrong way down the Caribbean

Atlantic hurricanes move west; Lenny went east, holding that track from the western Caribbean all the way out into the open ocean, which earned it the nickname "Wrong Way Lenny." That backwards path meant it hit island coastlines that normally sit on the sheltered side, and it strengthened while doing it — 155 mph winds a few miles off Saint Croix in the middle of November, when the season is supposed to be winding down. It was the strongest November Atlantic hurricane in 67 years and the fifth Category 4 of a season that had never produced that many. Worth five minutes for how oddly the damage was distributed: moderate on the island it nearly ran over, severe hundreds of miles away.

A police station on the French side of Saint Martin recorded 34.12 inches of rain — and on Antigua and Barbuda the downpour contaminated the island's water supply.

Read the whole of Hurricane Lenny on Wikipedia

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