Hurricane Dolly (1996) - Meteorological History

Meteorological History

Dolly formed from a tropical wave which moved off the west coast of Africa and entered the Caribbean between August 9 and August 18. The tropical wave was slightly disorganized until reports from hurricane hunter aircraft and ship suggested that the system reached tropical depression status on August 19. Six hours later, the depression became a tropical storm and was named Dolly, the fourth named storm of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season.

Dolly strengthened on August 19 and August 20 as it moved west-northwest. Convection was became more organized before the storm made landfall on Yucatán Peninsula northeast of Chetumal as a minimal hurricane. During its 24 hour passage over the Yucatán, Dolly weakened to a tropical storm, but restrengthened back into a hurricane over the Bay of Campeche. Dolly retained hurricane status with peak winds at 80 mph (135 km/h) and a pressure of 989 mbar before making its final landfall between Tuxpan, Veracruz, and Tampico, Tamaulipas, on August 23.

Dolly weakened to a tropical depression as it crossed central Mexico and dissipated when entering the Pacific basin on August 26.