Meteorological History
A tropical wave emerged into the Atlantic from the west coast of Africa on August 15. Six days later, the system developed into Tropical Depression Seven while centered halfway between the Lesser Antilles and Africa. The depression tracked west-northwestward around the periphery of a subtropical surface high pressure ridge. After strengthening minimally, the depression struck Guadeloupe late on August 23 and entered the Caribbean Sea shortly thereafter. Although satellite intensity estimates indicated tropical storm status, 13 reconnaissance flights conducted by the National Hurricane Center between August 23 and August 27 indicated winds were less than 40 mph (65 km/h). By August 25, the depression made landfall near Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Despite the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola, the depression did not weakened and re-emerged into the Atlantic from the northern coast of Haiti early on August 26. The depression curved northwestward and did not strengthen. On August 27, the depression made another landfall near Andros Town on Andros, Bahamas. Later that day, the depression passed less than 25 miles (40 km) east of West Palm Beach, Florida. Thereafter, the depression curved north-northwestward and remained offshore of Florida.
At 0600 UTC on August 28, a ship located about 93 miles (150 km) from the center of the depression reported tropical storm force winds. As a result, the depression was finally upgraded to Tropical Storm Chris. Tracking rapidly north-northeastward, Chris attained its peak intensity about six hours later, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1,006 mbar (29.7 inHg). The storm made its final landfall near Savannah, Georgia with winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) at 1500 UTC on August 28. After moving inland, Chris quickly weakened and was downgraded to a tropical depression near Columbia, South Carolina on August 29. Shortly thereafter, Chris merged with a cold front over North Carolina. The remnants of Chris tracked east-northeastward across the Eastern United States. Eventually, the remnants briefly re-emerged into the Atlantic from New England, then moved across Nova Scotia before dissipating near Cape Breton on August 30.
Read more about this topic: Tropical Storm Chris (1988)
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