Hurricane Dennis (1981)

Hurricane Dennis (1981)

Hurricane Dennis was the most damaging storm of the 1981 Atlantic hurricane season which took twelve and a half days to reach hurricane status. The tropical wave that later would become Dennis moved off the African coastline on August 5. By August 7 a tropical depression developed, which quickly intensified into Tropical Storm Dennis, the 4th named storm of the 1981 season. As Dennis approached the Caribbean Sea, strong upper level winds degenerated the storm back into a tropical wave by August 11. On August 15 Dennis regained tropical storm status as it crossed Cuba and moved into the Straits of Florida. On the 18th and 19 August, Dennis traversed the Florida peninsula as a weak tropical storm and later moved offshore. Dennis then skirted the Carolinas and briefly reached hurricane strength before being declared extratropical on August 22.

Dennis left $15 million (1981 USD, $34.4 million in 2007 USD) in damage to the agriculture to Florida, with minor rainfall and effects farther north up the coast.