Hurricane Erin (1995) - Meteorological History

Meteorological History

On July 22, a tropical wave emerged into the eastern Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Africa. The system had two distinct low-level circulation centers, and a large area of convection. By July 27, both circulations were generating deep convection a few hundred miles to the northeast of the Leeward Islands. These centers began to show tropical storm-force winds, but they did not have enough of a closed circulation needed, to be named.

Near midday, on July 30, T-number estimates began to show numbers, potentially indicative of a tropical cyclone. The National Hurricane Center then decided to fly a special night reconnaissance mission into the system, due to the systems close range to the Bahamas and the state of Florida. At midnight on the July 30, Hurricane Hunter aircraft data had showed that the storm had acquired a closed circulation. The system was named Tropical Storm Erin upon the National Hurricane Center's interpreting the data and information on July 31.

The track of the center was pushed by an upper-level low, off the coast of Florida, onto a northwesterly track, from its west-northwest track. This change in the track had it cross only the northern part of the Bahamas and caused the storm to affect the central coast of Florida instead of south Florida. The steering currents associated with the upper-level low made Erin speed up to 17 mph, from a previous 6 mph, and diverted Erin up and around the northeastern portion of the upper-level low. As this was happening, the system experienced shearing, that permitted the system to only have slow strengthening. The shear eventually diminished somewhat however, and on the evening of the July 31, Erin was upgraded to a hurricane. The next day, an eye began to become apparent on satellite imagery. Early in the day on August 2, Erin made landfall at Vero Beach, Florida with winds around 85 mph (140 km/h).

Erin's track bent back to west-northwest while the storm crossed the Florida peninsula during the morning and early afternoon of August 2. Erin weakened to a tropical storm with 60 mph (95 km/h) winds while crossing the peninsula, but remained fairly well-organized, although the system lost its visible eye. Upon emerging into the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Erin reintensified to a hurricane and continued strengthening until its final landfall near Pensacola, Florida during the late morning of August 3. Erin had maximum sustained winds around 100 mph (160 km/h) in a small area of its northeastern eyewall when that portion of the hurricane came ashore near Fort Walton Beach, making it a Category 2 hurricane at landfall.

Erin weakened to a tropical storm over southeastern Mississippi overnight on August 3rd and 4th. It weakened to tropical depression status by the time its track shifted to the north on August 5. The storm then merged with a frontal system over West Virginia later the next day.