Hurricane Otto (2016 - Prediction)

Hurricane Otto was a damaging late-season hurricane that affected Haiti and the Lesser Antilles. The fifteenth named storm and seventh hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, Otto formed from a broad area of low pressure that developed near Panama on November 15. It meandered erratically for a few days while gradually developing. By November 19, it had organized into a tropical depression. Otto moved east and eventually became a powerful Category 2 hurricane by November 23. It remained a hurricane until striking Haiti, which was still recovering from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Matthew just a month and a half prior. Otto then weakened dramatically and dissipated into a remnant low by November 24.

The storm caused up to $1 billion in damages, and with it, made the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season the first to have two billion-dollar storms since 2012. As much as nearly 1,000 people died in the storm, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes recorded.

Meteorological history
On November 12, the National Hurricane Center predicted the possibility of tropical development from an area of broad low pressure near the Isthmus of Panama in subsequent days. By late on November 15, the aforementioned area of low pressure began to form. Weak steering currents caused the disturbance to meander around erratically, while slowly coalescing in organization. By 12:00 UTC on November 17, after a Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance aircraft found a closed circulation and flight-level winds of 42 mph (67 km/h), the disturbance was upgraded to Tropical Depression Sixteen. Later that day, after a scatterometer pass revealed winds of up to tropical storm-force, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Otto.

Otto initially failed to strengthen much due to moderate wind shear as it drifted northwards. However, by November 21, wind shear decreased slightly, allowing the storm to strengthen, and it later strengthened into a hurricane while south of Jamaica on November 20. Otto then underwent a short burst in intensification as it turned to the east, and accordingly peaked on November 21 as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 mph (165 km/h) and a pressure of 968 millibars (28.59 inHg). Shortly afterwards, wind shear began to increase, and Otto weakened to a moderate Category 1 before making landfall around 21:00 UTC on November 22 near Les Anglais - nearly the same spot where Hurricane Matthew had made landfall in October. Otto continued to move swiftly inland over Haiti, dropping tremendous rainfall, while at the same time weakening dramatically due to interacting with the mountains of the nation. The storm emerged back over the Atlantic on November 23, barely a tropical storm, before degenerating into a remnant low later that day. Shortly afterwards, the remnants of Otto dissipated.