Tropical Weather Summary

000
ABNT30 KNHC 011149
TWSAT 
MONTHLY TROPICAL WEATHER SUMMARY
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
800 AM EDT SAT SEP 1 2007

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

THREE TROPICAL CYCLONES FORMED IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN DURING AUGUST. 
TWO OF THESE CYCLONES BECAME NAMED STORMS DURING AUGUST...AND ONE
OF THESE...DEAN...REACHED MAJOR HURRICANE STATUS. ALTHOUGH THE
NUMBER OF TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES WAS SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE
FOR AUGUST...THE ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY (ACE) INDEX...A MEASURE
OF THE STRENGTH AND DURATION OF NAMED STORMS AND HURRICANES...WAS
SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE.  

DEAN...WHICH MADE LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON THE EAST
COAST OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA NEAR COSTA MAYA...MEXICO...FORMED
FROM A TROPICAL WAVE IN THE FAR EASTERN ATLANTIC ON 13 AUGUST.  THE
CYCLONE BECAME A TROPICAL STORM THE NEXT DAY ABOUT 1500 MILES EAST
OF THE LESSER ANTILLES AND CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVED JUST
NORTH OF DUE WEST.  DEAN BECAME A HURRICANE ON 16 AUGUST ABOUT 500
MILES EAST OF BARBADOS...AND CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVED
CLOSER TO THE LESSER ANTILLES.  THE CENTER OF DEAN PASSED BETWEEN
ST. LUCIA AND MARTINIQUE DURING THE MORNING OF 17 AUGUST...WITH THE
NORTHERN EYEWALL PASSING OVER MARTINIQUE WITH CATEGORY TWO
SUSTAINED WINDS OF ABOUT 100 MPH.  AFTER CLEARING THE LEEWARD
ISLANDS...DEAN BECAME A MAJOR HURRICANE LATER THAT DAY...AND ITS
WINDS REACHED 150 MPH EARLY THE NEXT DAY ABOUT 700 MILES
EAST-SOUTHEAST OF JAMAICA.  CONTINUING ON A TRACK JUST NORTH OF
WEST...THE CENTER OF DEAN PASSED ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF THE SOUTH
COAST OF JAMAICA ON 19 AUGUST.  AT THAT TIME DEAN WAS A CATEGORY
FOUR HURRICANE WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 145 MPH...ALTHOUGH THESE
STRONGEST WINDS LIKELY REMAINED JUST OFFSHORE.  

DEAN'S HEADING REMAINED REMARKABLY CONSTANT AND IT CONTINUED OVER
THE DEEP WARM WATERS OF THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN.  DEAN BECAME A
CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE VERY EARLY ON 21 AUGUST ABOUT 200 MILES
EAST OF CHETUMAL MEXICO...AND REACHED ITS PEAK INTENSITY OF 165
MPH...WITH A MINIMUM PRESSURE OF 906 MB...JUST BEFORE LANDFALL NEAR
COSTA MAYA ON THE YUCATAN PENINSULA.  DEAN WEAKENED TO A CATEGORY
ONE HURRICANE DURING ITS TRAVERSE OF THE YUCATAN...AND EMERGED INTO
THE BAY OF CAMPECHE LATE ON 21 AUGUST.  DEAN STRENGTHENED TO A
CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE...WITH WINDS OF ABOUT 100 MPH...JUST BEFORE
MAKING ITS FINAL LANDFALL NEAR MIDDAY ON 22 AUGUST ABOUT 40 MILES
SOUTH OF TUXPAN MEXICO.  THE CYCLONE DISSIPATED EARLY ON 23 AUGUST
OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN OF CENTRAL MEXICO.

PRELIMINARY REPORTS FROM VARIOUS MEDIA SOURCES INDICATE THAT DEAN IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR ROUGHLY 40 DEATHS ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN...WITH THE
LARGEST TOLLS IN MEXICO AND HAITI.  OFFICIAL TOTALS ARE NOT YET
AVAILABLE.

ERIN FORMED IN ASSOCIATION WITH A TROPICAL WAVE EARLY ON 15 AUGUST
OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO ABOUT 450 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF
BROWNSVILLE TEXAS.  MOVING NORTHWESTWARD...THE CYCLONE BECAME A
TROPICAL STORM WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 40 MPH LATER THAT DAY WHILE
CENTERED ABOUT 200 MILES EAST OF BROWNSVILLE...BUT ERIN DID NOT
STRENGTHEN ANY FURTHER OVER THE GULF.  THE CENTER OF CIRCULATION
MADE LANDFALL NEAR LAMAR TEXAS ON THE MORNING OF 16 AUGUST...AND BY
THAT TIME ERIN HAD WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION WITH MAXIMUM
WINDS OF 35 MPH.  THE DEPRESSION CONTINUED NORTHWESTWARD AND INLAND
DURING 16-17 AUGUST AND TURNED NORTHWARD OVER WEST TEXAS ON 18
AUGUST.  SURVIVING REMARKABLY OVER LAND...THE CYCLONE ENTERED
SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA VERY EARLY ON 19 AUGUST.  WHILE MOVING
NORTHEASTWARD OVER OKLAHOMA THAT MORNING...ERIN PRODUCED SUSTAINED
WINDS OF TROPICAL STORM FORCE AND GUSTS TO HURRICANE FORCE IN
ISOLATED LOCATIONS.  POST-STORM ANALYSIS OF THIS UNUSUAL EVENT IS
ONGOING TO DETERMINE THE STRENGTH AND STATUS OF ERIN OVER OKLAHOMA. 
THE CYCLONE DISSIPATED LATER ON 19 AUGUST OVER NORTHEASTERN
OKLAHOMA...BUT REMNANT MOISTURE CONTINUED NORTHEASTWARD INTO
MISSOURI.  OVERALL...ERIN AND ITS REMNANTS BROUGHT HEAVY RAINS TO
PORTIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN...SOUTH-CENTRAL...AND WESTERN TEXAS...
OKLAHOMA...AND SOUTHERN MISSOURI.  STORM-TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF
3-7 INCHES WERE COMMON IN MANY OF THESE AREAS...WITH SOME LOCATIONS
RECEIVING MORE THAN 10 INCHES.

FELIX FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE ON 31 AUGUST ABOUT 200 MILES
EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE WINDWARD ISLANDS AND MOVED WESTWARD ACROSS
THE WINDWARD ISLANDS NEAR GRENADA.  AT THE BEGINNING OF
SEPTEMBER...THE STORM WAS CENTERED ABOUT 75 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF
GRENADA WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 45 MPH.  
  

SUMMARY TABLE 

NAME               DATES        MAX WIND    DEATHS    U.S. DAMAGE
                                  MPH                  $MILLION
---------------------------------------------------------------
H DEAN      13-23 AUGUST          165         40          0
TS ERIN     15-19 AUGUST           40          *          *
TS FELIX       31 AUGUST-          45          *          0
--------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE...DATES BASED ON COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME (UTC)
* UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME

$$

FORECASTER FRANKLIN/KNABB/BLAKE