1999 was a very active hurricane season that featured 2 destructive hurricanes Floyd and Lenny. Lenny was the second destructive hurricane of the 1999 season. One reason the 1999 season was above average was due to a continuing La Nina.

Hurricane Lenny was a typical and also an unusual hurricane at the same time. Lenny was typical as it was a November hurricane that developed in the Caribbean. The Caribbean is usually an active spot for November tropical storms. Lenny becoming a major hurricane in the Caribbean in November was not even unusual. So what was unusual about Lenny? Well, Lenny moved eastward which is rare. In November most hurricanes move west, west northwest, north, or even Northeast not easterly. Lenny moved easterly into the Antilles.

On November 12th a tropical low developed in the Western Caribbean this low already had winds of 35 mph all it needed was a closed circulation. The models showed this low becoming a significant hurricane. On November 13th the low became a depression when it developed a closed circulation. The next day on the 14th it was named tropical Storm Lenny and it began to slowly move eastward.

Lenny due to very warm water started to rapidly strengthen on the 15th it became a hurricane when the winds increased to 80 mph and later that night Lenny became a category 2 hurricane with winds up to 100 mph. On the 16th Lenny temporarily weakened to category 1 before becoming a 110 mph category 2 hurricane later that evening.

On the early morning on the 17th Lenny's winds increased to 120 mph making Lenny a category 3 major hurricane. Lenny would continue to strengthen reaching 140 mph later that evening making Lenny a category 4 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center stated that Lenny would strengthen some more as it was over very warm water.

On the 18th Lenny was just south of Puerto Rico and reached its peak as a 155 mph hurricane with a pressure of 933 millibars. This made Lenny a high end category 4 hurricane. Around this time Lenny's speed decreased to to hardly any steering currents. Due to upwelling Lenny weakened a little and made landfall in St. Martin and Saba as a 130 mph category 4 hurricane. Later on the 18th Lenny struck St. Marteen, Anguilla, and Barbuda as a 125 mph high end category 3 hurricane.

On the 19th Lenny began to move over cooler waters and began to weaken as it passed the Antilles. By the night of the 19th Lenny was a category 1 hurricane. Weakening continued with Lenny weakening to a tropical storm on the 20th and becoming extra tropical on the 21st.

Lenny was very destructive in the Antilles causing 17 deaths and causing $840 million in damages to the Antilles. These were the same islands that had been recovering from Hurricanes Luis in 1995 and Hurricanes Georges in 1998. Lenny added insult to injury.

Due to the severe damage the name Lenny was retired the following year and replaced with the name Lee on the naming list. While Lenny was not unusual as it was a November major hurricane in the Caribbean. It was unusual and historic because it moved eastward. Some of us meteorologist joking called Lenny wrong way Lenny due to its unusual track. As I stated most November hurricanes in the Caribbean go west, north or even Northeast sometimes, but not east/southeast.