Hurricane Dean was a powerful tropical cyclone of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the most intense Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma of 2005, and tied for seventh most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded as well as the third most intense Atlantic hurricane ever at landfall. A Cape Verde-type hurricane, Dean took a west-northwest path through the Caribbean Sea, passing just to the south of Jamaica on August 20, making landfall in the Yucatán on August 21, and a second landfall near Tecolutla, Mexico, on August 22 after crossing the Bay of Campeche. At least 42 deaths have been reported and insured damage is estimated at about $6.6 billion (USD).
Dean was the first hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic basin at Category 5 intensity in 15 years; the last storm to do so was Hurricane Andrew on August 24, 1992. Although Dean was much larger than Andrew, its Category 5 landfall was in a more sparsely populated area and thus far less damaging.
-- Storm History --
On August 11, 2007, a tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa, and, encountering favorable conditions, quickly developed into Tropical Depression Four about 520 miles (835 km) west-southwest of Cape Verde. The depression moved briskly westward, and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Dean at 1500 UTC on August 14. The storm's intensity continued to build although dry air and cooler air inflow from the north were slowing structural development. Ragged bands formed on August 15 and the formation of a partial eyewall was observed later that day.
Intensification continued and the storm was upgraded to Hurricane Dean at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) August 16. The deep-layered ridge to the north continued to steer the system west, towards the Caribbean Sea. The storm quickly strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The storm's development slowed slightly but a reconnaissance aircraft discovered a closed eyewall on August 17 as the storm passed through the Lesser Antilles. Data from the aircraft indicated that Hurricane Dean had strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane and its trailing bands were still over the Lesser Antilles. During the evening of August 17 Dean strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane and continued to steadily grow in both size and intensifying through the night. On August 18 the presence of a double eyewall was noted, indicating an eyewall replacement cycle and causing short term fluctuations in intensity. These fluctuations did not affect the storm's well defined satellite presentation. Operationally, Dean was thought to have only been a Category 4 on the 18th, but post-storm analysis shows that Dean had become a 165 mph (266 km/h) Category 5 that day before weakening. Dean weakened very slightly on morning of August 19 as it finished the eyewall replacement cycle and began to interact with the island of Jamaica
Hurricane Dean passed south of Jamaica on the evening of August 19 and began to intensify again that night. Its eyewall replacement cycle was thought to be completed. A concentric eyewall was briefly observed again on the morning of August 20, but did not last long. The hurricane, still tracking west-northwest under the influence of a strengthening deep-layered high pressure system to the north, moved over waters with extremely high heat content and began to strengthen once again. The eyewall became even better defined throughout the day, and, at 8:35 p.m. AST on August 20 (0035 August 21, UTC), Dean restrengthened to a Category 5 hurricane, the highest rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It made landfall as a Category 5 storm in Quintana Roo's Costa Maya region, some 65 km (40 mi) northeast of the border between Mexico and Belize, and weakened on its way over land, reemerging on the western side of Yucatán as a Category 1 storm. Dean regained strength as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico, and made its second landfall as a Category 2 storm on 22 August, at around 11:30 CDT, near Tecolutla, Veracruz, to the south of Tuxpan, whereafter it moved westward, losing strength and mostly disintegrating over central Mexico. A small remnant circulation did enter the far east Pacific, eventually moving northwestward around an anticyclone, roughly parallel to the Mexican coast and finally back inland over the southwestern United States, where it completely dissipated on 27 August.
Most intense Atlantic hurricanes
Intensity is measured solely by central pressure Rank
Hurricane Season Min. pressure
1 Wilma 2005 882 mbar (hPa)
2 Gilbert 1988 888 mbar (hPa)
3 "Labor Day" 1935 892 mbar (hPa)
4 Rita 2005 895 mbar (hPa)
5 Allen 1980 899 mbar (hPa)
6 Katrina 2005 902 mbar (hPa)
7 Camille 1969 905 mbar (hPa)
7 Mitch 1998 905 mbar (hPa)
7 Dean 2007 905 mbar (hPa)
10 Ivan 2004 910 mbar (hPa)
Loading...
0:55
Birth of a Hurricaneby 1815chris511,883 views
i hope your kidding andrew and katrina were the worst!
kcrom18 3 years ago 3
hurricane dean kinda looks like hurricane isabel.
brainblaster99 2 years ago 2