Meteorological History
A strong tropical wave accompanied with a low pressure system moved off the coast of Africa on August 19. It moved quickly westward and organized, developing banding features and cirrus outflow near the blossoming convection. The wave nearly developed into a tropical cyclone on August 21, though its fast forward motion dislocated the low level circulation from the deep convection. The wave entered an area of dry air in the central Atlantic Ocean, and by late on August 22 most of the convection dissipated from the system. On August 24, convection increased as the wave passed through the Lesser Antilles, though strong southwesterly upper level wind shear prevented further development. The tropical wave moved through the Caribbean Sea, and developed deep convection due to more favorable conditions over the Gulf of Honduras on August 28. The wave crossed the Yucatán Peninsula, and developed a surface low pressure area on the 29th in the Gulf of Mexico. Convection continued to organize, and the tropical wave developed into Tropical Depression Eleven on August 30 while located 335 miles (540 km) east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas.
The depression moved to the northwest, and intensified into Tropical Storm Grace six hours after forming. Despite the increase in winds the center of circulation remained very broad, with Reconnaissance Aircraft having difficulty pinpointing the center. In addition, an upper level low located over Brownsville, Texas produced shear over the western portion of the system, which limited outflow to the east side. Forecasters predicted the upper level low to weaken, allowing for the possibility of Grace to intensify to a 65 mph (100 km/h) tropical storm over warm waters. However, the upper level low remained in place and continued to produce shear across the system. A new center of circulation reformed 115 miles (185 km) north of the original center, and made landfall near San Luis Pass on the southwestern portion of Galveston Island on August 31 as a minimal tropical storm. Grace quickly weakened to a tropical depression over land, and after turning northeastward into Oklahoma the depression was absorbed by a cold front.
Read more about this topic: Tropical Storm Grace (2003)
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