Meteorological History
On July 14, 2008 a weakening surface trough extended across northern Florida, producing thunderstorms across the state. A weak low pressure area developed on July 15 near Tallahassee, which moved southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. Late on July 16 it crossed onshore near Tampa, and development was not anticipated due to land interaction. Late on July 17, however, convection increased in association with the low, and the system quickly became better organized. Late on July 18, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) remarked that a tropical depression was developing, with its convection becoming more concentrated around a circulation; at 11 p.m. EST on July 18 (0300 UTC July 19), it was classified as Tropical Depression Three, about 65 miles (105 km) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina.
Located between a ridge to its southeast and northwest, the depression moved slowly northeastward, and with a marginally favorable upper-level environment, it attained minimal tropical storm status during the early afternoon of July 19. Initially fairly disorganized with little deep convection, dry air in the mid- to-upper-levels of the atmosphere prevented immediate intensification. However, late on July 20 thunderstorm activity increased. Cristobal remained a fairly weak tropical storm as it tracked adjacent to the Carolina coast, and the storm never made landfall. It reached peak intensity as a strong tropical storm on July 21 while it passed east of Cape Hatteras, and remained such over the warm Gulf Stream waters as convection became strong over the southern portion of the circulation. Beginning to enter cooler waters, the cyclone accelerated east-northeastward on July 21 and July 22. On the afternoon of July 22, Cristobal began to weaken south of Nova Scotia. In the evening hours, satellite imagery indicated that the mid-level center became separated from the low-level center. The storm's cloud pattern became disorganized, and by July 23 it had completed an extratropical transition. The National Hurricane Center issued its last advisory on the system at 5:00 am EDT (0900 UTC) on July 23.
Read more about this topic: Tropical Storm Cristobal (2008)
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