Hurricane Dennis
| Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Hurricane Dennis intensifying over the Gulf of Mexico on July 9
|
|
| Formed | July 4, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | July 18, 2005 |
| (Remnant low after July 13) | |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 150 mph (240 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 930 mbar (hPa); 27.46 inHg |
| Fatalities | 76 direct, 12 indirect |
| Damage | $3.71 billion (2005 USD) |
| Areas affected |
|
| Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Dennis was an early-forming major hurricane in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Dennis was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the season. In July, the hurricane set several records for early season hurricane activity becoming the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever to form before August; a title it held for only six days before being surpassed by Hurricane Emily.
Dennis hit Cuba twice as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, and made landfall on the Florida Panhandle in the United States as a Category 3 storm less than a year after Hurricane Ivan did so. Dennis killed 88 people—76 directly and 13 indirectly—in the U.S. and Caribbean and caused $2.23 billion (2005 USD) in damages to the United States, as well as an approximately equal amount of damage in the Caribbean, primarily on Cuba.
The incipient tropical wave that became Dennis was identified on June 26, 2005, well-inland over Africa; it later emerged over the Atlantic Ocean on June 29 and moved briskly to the west.Dry air initially inhibited development, though once this abated the wave was able to consolidate into a tropical depression on July 4. The depression soon crossed Grenada before entering the Caribbean Sea whereupon increasingly favorable environmental factors, such as low wind shear and high sea surface temperatures, fueled intensification. Turning west-northwest, the system achieved tropical storm status on July 5 and hurricane status the following day. Formation of a well-defined eye and central dense overcast signaled Dennis's intensification into a major hurricane on July 7. Throughout this phase, the hurricane traversed the Jamaica Channel, bringing deadly floods to both Jamaica and Haiti.
...
Wikipedia