Meteorological History
A tropical wave moved off the African coast on August 17. The wave continued west-northwestward, not organizing until August 21 when an increase in convection occurred. A low-level circulation slowly developed as it passed north of the Lesser Antilles, and on August 24 it was upgraded to Tropical Depression Five while located around 220 mi (350 km) east of Grand Turk Island. It moved to the west-northwest, and later on the 24th it strengthened into Tropical Storm Dennis.
Located at the eastern end of an elongated trough, Dennis was affected by westerly shear. Despite the unfavorable conditions, the storm intensified, and reached hurricane status on August 26 over the Bahamas. Due to the trough, Dennis moved very erratically, varying between a fast forward speed to a near drift in its developmental stages. After passing through the Bahamas, the shear decreased, and Dennis was able to reach Category 2 strength on the 28th.
A mid-latitude trough brought Dennis north and northeastward, causing it to parallel the Florida through North Carolina coastlines. While east of Florida on August 28, Dennis peaked at 105 mph (170 km/h) winds, though the wind field never resembled a classical tightly wound hurricane. The eye wall was around 35 miles (56 km) wide, and at some occasions reconnaissance aircraft did not even report an eye. This may be because some upper level shear remained. Dennis weakened as it continued northeastward, but still brought hurricane force winds to the North Carolina coast on August 30.
Hurricane Dennis became involved with a cold front, which caused vertical shear and cool, dry air to impact the circulation. A ridge of high pressure to its north caused Dennis to stall, leading to the cyclone's weakening to a tropical storm on September 1 as a result of the unfavorable conditions. On the 1st and 2nd, with disorganized convection and a large wind field, Dennis resembled a subtropical cyclone or even an extra-tropical storm, but it retained its warm core as it drifted southward over warmer waters. Dennis restrengthened as it turned to the west-northwest, and made landfall near Harkers Island, North Carolina on September 5 while just below hurricane strength. The storm rapidly weakened over land, and turned northward through Virginia. It became extra-tropical on September 7, and was absorbed by a larger extra-tropical low the following day, while located over Canada.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Dennis (1999)
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