Meteorological history of Hurricane Harvey
| Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Path of Hurricane Harvey
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| Formed | August 17, 2017 |
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| Dissipated | September 2, 2017 |
| (Extratropical after September 1) | |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 130 mph (215 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 937 mbar (hPa); 27.67 inHg |
| Areas affected | Windward Islands, Suriname, Guyana, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Yucatán Peninsula, United States (particularly Texas) |
| Part of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season | |
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The meteorological history of Hurricane Harvey lasted from mid August till early September 2017, with many records for rainfall and landfall intensity set during that time. The eighth named storm, third hurricane, and first major hurricane of the annual hurricane season, Harvey originated from a broad area of low pressure southwest of Cape Verde that was first detected on August 13. Tracking steadily westward, the disturbance developed strong convection, a well-defined circulation, and sustained tropical storm-force winds, leading to the classification of Tropical Storm Harvey late on August 17. Moderate easterly vertical wind shear kept Harvey weak as it continued westwards into the Caribbean Sea; despite repeated calls for gradual intensification by the National Hurricane Center, Harvey eventually opened up into a tropical wave on August 19. The remnants of Harvey continued to move westwards and reached the Yucatán Peninsula on August 22, and was forecast to once again become a tropical cyclone once exiting land.
On August 23, Harvey moved into the Bay of Campeche and quickly developed a well-defined circulation, becoming a tropical depression later that day and a tropical storm fifteen hours later. Curving northwestwards into a favorable environment with low wind shear and high sea surface temperatures, Harvey began to consolidate and developed an eye. Rapid intensification ensued as Harvey approached the coast of Texas, with Harvey becoming a hurricane in the afternoon of August 24. Despite some dry air entrainment halting the intensification process for the rest of the day, Harvey soon resumed strengthening and became the season's first major hurricane in the evening of August 25. Continuing to deepen, Harvey attained peak winds of 130 mph (215 km/h)—Category 4 status on the Saffir–Simpson scale—as it made its first landfall near Rockport, Texas at 03:00 UTC on August 26. This made Harvey the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005 and the strongest in terms of wind speed to hit the country since Charley in 2004, as well the first hurricane to strike Texas since Ike in 2008, the first major hurricane in the state since Bret in 1999, and the strongest in Texas since Carla in 1961. Rapid weakening began as Harvey made a second landfall just north of Holiday Beach three hours after its first, degrading to a tropical storm that evening. Trapped between two ridges to its west and east, Harvey dramatically slowed as it moved inland, but began drifting southeast back towards water on August 27.
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