Hurricane Marie (2014)

Hurricane Marie

Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Marie at peak intensity off the Mexican coast on August 24
Formed	August 22, 2014
Dissipated	September 2, 2014
(Remnant low after August 28)
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 160 mph (260 km/h)
Lowest pressure	918 mbar (hPa); 27.11 inHg
Fatalities	6 total
Damage	$20 million (2014 USD)
Areas affected	Southwestern Mexico, California
Part of the 2014 Pacific hurricane season

Hurricane Marie is tied as the seventh-most intense Pacific hurricane on record, attaining a barometric pressure of 918 mbar (hPa; 27.11 inHg) in August 2014. On August 10, a tropical wave emerged off the west coast of Africa over the Atlantic Ocean. Some organization of shower and thunderstorm activity initially took place, but dry air soon impinged upon the system and imparted weakening. The wave trekked westward across the Atlantic and Caribbean for several days. On August 19, an area of low pressure consolidated within the wave west of Central America. With favorable atmospheric conditions, convective activity and banding features increased around the system and by August 22, the system acquired enough organization to be classified as Tropical Depression Thirteen-E while situated about 370 mi (595 km) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico. Development was initially fast-paced, as the depression acquired tropical storm-force winds within six hours of formation and hurricane-force by August 23. However, due to some vertical wind shear its intensification rate stalled, and for a time it remained a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale.

On August 24, Marie developed an eye and rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 mph (260 km/h). At its peak, the hurricane's gale-force winds spanned an area 575 mi (925 km) across. Marie subsequently underwent an eyewall replacement cycle on August 25 which prompted steady weakening. Over the next several days, Marie progressively degraded to below hurricane strength as it moved into an increasingly hostile environment with cooler waters and a more stable atmosphere. On August 29, after having lost all signs of organized deep convection, Marie degenerated into a remnant low. The large system gradually wound down over the following several days, with winds subsiding below gale-force on August 30. The remnant cyclone eventually lost a well defined center and dissipated on September 2 about 1,200 mi (1,950 km) northeast of Hawaii.