Hurricane Katie (2044)

Hurricane Katie was a rare and notable late-season storm in the fact it lasted two calendar years (2044 and 2045). It was the tenth cyclone, eighth tropical storm of the 2044 Atlantic hurricane season, and the first hurricane of the 2045 Atlantic hurrican season.

Meteorological history
On December 23, a very unusual Carribean thunderstorm formed about 100 miles (mi) south-southeast of Havana, Cuba. It looked like a tropical depression on satellite imagery, but lacked a closed circulation. However, several Hurricane Hunters flights into the system indicated a closed circulation had developed, completing the tropical cyclone formation requirements. On 0745 UTC on December 24, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) declared the thunderstorm a tropical depression, numbering it Tropical Depression Nine. The depression took a very long time to become a tropical storm. Although it nearly developed an eye, its winds never got past 35 miles per hour (mph), nor did its pressure get past 1003 millibars (mb) for the next three days. Then, starting on December 28, something special began to happen. Another Hurricane Hunters flight and satellite imagery showed the depression reached 40 mph winds and a 996 mb pressure, allowing the NHC to upgrade the system to a tropical storm 660 miles southeast of Nassau, Bahamas at 0400 UTC on December 28, naming it Katie. Tropical Storm Katie began to develop an eye, and its pressure fell a little bit to 994 mb. By December 29, the tropical storm had reached 60 mph winds, and slowed a bit in intensification, staying the same intensity for 18 hours. It reached 65 mph on December 30, then 70 mph on December 31, where it remained that intensity into 2045. In the late afternoon hours of January 1 (at 1500 UTC), Katie hit 80 mph winds, becoming the first hurricane of the 2045 Atlantic hurricane season. Operationally, Katie was thought to have peaked with 75 mph winds, but was upgraded in post-storm analysis. Katie began to turn extratropical on satellite imagery, and weakened back down to a 70 mph tropical storm. The transforming storm became extratropical at 0600 UTC on January 2 approximately 495 miles south-southwest of Bermuda. The remains of Katie accelerated to the northeast, and was absorbed into a larger, more powerful extratropical cyclone on January 4.

Preparations and impact
The pre-Katie thunderstorm brought minor precipitaiton to Cuba. Rain of three (3) to four (4) inches was measured across the country. The rain caused some landslides, damaging some roads. However, damage totals are unknown. No deaths were caused by the pre-Katie thunderstorm.

As a tropical cyclone, Katie never affected land. Thus, no watches or warnings were required, and the name Katie was not retired.