meteorological history hurricane meteorological history hurricane spanned days august september tropical disturbance eventually spawned gathered august southwest cape_verde islands slow develop west atlantic reaching warm waters caribbean_sea began organize tropical depression august quickly strengthened tropical storm hurricane making landfall haiti southwest peninsula severely disrupted hispaniola mountains stalled disorganized august deep convection reformed storm center southwest haiti near jamaica east coast influence mid level ridge extended gulf_of_mexico western atlantic_ocean picked westward motion briefly disrupted jamaica passed mountainous island rapidly strengthened moved open water reaching category strength hours having tropical storm brushed landfall cuba western peninsula disrupted mountains regained strength briefly traveling warm loop current encountered moderate wind shear cooling sea surface temperatures fluctuations internal structure visible appearance counter storm general weakening trend final landfall category hurricane near louisiana september moving inland storm quickly weakened persisted significant tropical depression frontal boundary september formation august tropical wave left coast africa days previously developed significant low pressure area miles west southwest cape_verde islands wave moved westward atlantic conditions favorable development began approach windward_islands conditions improved showed signs organization circulation reaching islands august bringing showers thunderstorms generally weather wind shear system decreased atmospheric conditions improved eastern caribbean_sea miles south santo domingo low level circulation began form hours later defined curved bands improving circulation surface system designated tropical depression depression formed small inner wind core diameter allowed rapidly organize afternoon august upgraded tropical storm given renewed period proved short lived night defined eye formed eye accompanied strengthening storm continued northwest haiti reaching island strengthening pattern raised hurricane strength prominent organizing central dense overcast persistent strengthening continued hurricane landfall haiti southwest peninsula west utc august winds mph minimum central pressure mbar inhg interaction haiti jamaica making landfall near began traversing northwestward mountainous terrain southwestern haiti dumping heavy rains passed favorable atmospheric conditions storm maintained hurricane intensity hours landfall high mountains traveling disrupted lower level circulation eye ragged weakened tropical storm large mid- upper level anticyclone florida straight slowed movement holding northern coast haiti southern peninsula rainfall storm heavy landfall began accumulate storm movement stalled storm upper levels began experiencing moderate shear parts circulation interacting mountains southwestern haiti convection morning august organization started improve afternoon broad ridge extended gulf_of_mexico western atlantic_ocean tropical began slowly pull west away island hispaniola increased shear weakened storm building ridge north southerly component storm motion northeasterly shear convection northeast quadrant breaking storm existing center storm center reformed south east jamaica deep convection new center little stronger previous began moving southwest jamaica southerly reformation moved away mountains haiti warm waters caribbean_sea finding environment mph continuing west influence mid level ridge dominated steering far approached jamaica outer bands delivered heavy rains westward motion landfall jamaica eastern tip august utc hurricane strength moved jamaica center southern coast convection dragging island mountainous center hours making landfall center moved island west coast caribbean_sea unlike landfall interaction jamaica structure left island morning august storm diameter increased substantially prominent banding features developed low level center reorganized open water little wind shear strengthening pattern emerged quickly returned hurricane status afternoon having cleared jamaica entered period sustained intensification hours leaving island storm regained hurricane status signs eye appeared convective bands upper level outflow defined wind shear decreased deep warm waters caribbean sean provided perfect conditions strengthening subtropical ridge developed weakness approached weakness drawn tore low lying wide eye pronounced early morning hours august continued pass storm winds increased mph raising hurricane category strength morning hurricane continued rapidly strengthen deep convection eye intensely hurricane minimum central pressure dropped mbar inhg hours utc reached category strength continued strengthen drop pressure mbar inhg hours mbar inhg quickly followed increase wind speed mph making hurricane category hurricane mere tropical storm hours earlier afternoon continued moving northwest cuba western eyewall passed directly passing eastern coast slightly possibly result eyewall replacement cycle strengthened brushed island continued strengthen making brief landfall central pressure mbar inhg winds mph long term motion continued dominated mid level ridge western atlantic evening central pressure mbar inhg hurricane landfall western mainland cuba near los category intensity bringing mph winds onshore height metres mph gust recorded confirmed strongest measured hurricane gulf_of_mexico low mountains western cuba disrupted low level circulation crosses island hours brief interaction caused storm eye partially cloud wind speeds fell mph entered southeastern gulf_of_mexico night night morning august continued moving northwestward gulf winds weakening mph damage interaction cuba continued toll morning eye expanding storm weakened completely mid- upper level dry air drawn cyclone trough south added slight vertical shear short lived continued influence ridge western atlantic southeastern accelerated central gulf storm tracked warm loop current high oceanic heat content failed induce strengthening deep convection continued eyewall opened southeast wind speed continued fall category status afternoon august hurricane ragged appearance began improve eye returned properly minimum central pressure fell outer bands came ashore northern gulf_coast appearance improved wind radius expanded night moved loop current slightly cooler water despite impressive presentation pre dawn hours september gulf coast hurricane wind field expanded tropical storm force winds extended center dry air intrusion south broke hurricane eye completely eyewall heavy rain bands came ashore state louisiana eye approached louisiana coast storm weakened mph making landfall near louisiana utc eye briefly reformed associated strengthening dissipation landfall hurricane continued moving northwestward mph mid level ridge southeastern united_states dominated steering days drifted northward pulling hurricane moving inland continued weaken delivering torrential rains central gulf coast united_states eye cleared landfall filled afternoon replaced central dense overcast night hours landfall weakened tropical storm winds mph slipping tropical storm strength following morning previously firm steering currents began forward motion slowed storm northwest louisiana september heavy rainfall began accumulate region storm continued northwestward intersection arkansas louisiana texas oklahoma arkansas proper forward motion slowed considerably dumped isolated rainfall excess inches morning september tropical depression briefly drifted north northeastward weak steering currents stalled completely southwestern arkansas afternoon spread heavy rain mid mississippi valley evening steering currents returned picked speed northeast mph moving rapidly left headed morning passed missouri began gain extratropical characteristics merged frontal boundary extratropical transition completed afternoon september remnant low moving mph missouri longer tropical system remnants continued bring wind rain northern united_states evening traveling northeastward remnants dropped rain illinois widespread remnant low produced trace rainfall stretching iowa indiana nightfall september remnants reached southwest michigan dumped rain morning high storm circulation remained intact wisconsin dropped rainfall northerly remnants drifted minnesota dropped small amounts rain september storm extratropical remnants absorbed larger extratropical low moving great lakes
Meteorological history of Hurricane Gustav