Hurricane Felix

Hurricane Felix

Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Felix during rapid intensification on September 2, showing a very well-defined eye.
Formed	August 31, 2007
Dissipated	September 7, 2007
(Remnant low after September 5)
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 175 mph (280 km/h)
Lowest pressure	929 mbar (hPa); 27.43 inHg
Fatalities	130 direct, 3 indirect
Damage	$720 million (2007 USD)
Areas affected	Trinidad and Tobago, Windward Islands, Venezuela, Leeward Antilles, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala, Mexico
Part of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Felix was the southernmost landfalling Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic; surpassing Hurricane Edith of 1971. It was the sixth named storm, second hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. Felix formed from a tropical wave on August 31, passing through the southern Windward Islands on September 1 before strengthening to attain hurricane status. A day later it rapidly strengthened into a major hurricane, and early on September 3 it was upgraded to Category 5 status; by 2100 UTC, the hurricane was downgraded to Category 4 status, but was upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane for the second and final time by the morning of September 4.

On September 4, Felix made landfall just south of the border between Nicaragua and Honduras, in the Mosquito Coast region, as a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph (260 km/h) winds. Hurricane Felix struck Nicaragua on the same day as Hurricane Henriette struck the Baja California Peninsula in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which marked the second recorded occurrence that a North Atlantic hurricane and a Pacific hurricane made landfall on the same day; the previous occurrence was on August 23, 1992, when Hurricane Andrew hit the Bahamas on the same day Hurricane Lester hit Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. At least 133 deaths are attributed to Felix.

A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on August 24, tracking westward at approximately 14 mph (23 km/h) with no associated deep convection and a weak low-level inverted-V curvature. Initially difficult to locate on satellites, the wave axis tracked through a moist environment and developed an area of scattered thunderstorms. By August 25 visible satellite imagery indicated broad cyclonic turning just north of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The wave continued to develop moderate to strong convection, and on August 27 a 1012 mbar (hPa; 29.88 inHg) low pressure area developed about 830 mi (1,340 km) west-southwest of Praia, Cape Verde. For the next several days the system failed to organize significantly; however, on August 30 the wave became better defined with more representation of the cyclonic turning into the low. Convection increased early the next day, and a Hurricane Hunters flight into the system reported the presence of a closed low-level circulation; accordingly, the National Hurricane Center initiated advisories on Tropical Depression Six at 2100 UTC on August 31 while it was located about 180 mi (295 km) east-southeast of the southern Windward Islands.