Hurricane Fabian - Meteorological History

Meteorological History

On August 25, a tropical wave emerged off the coast of Africa. Tracking westward, the wave developed convection over its center, and conducive conditions allowed it to develop further. The system passed through the Cape Verde islands later that day as convection steadily weakened. Early on August 27, convection again increased and consolidated near the center, and later that day the wave developed into Tropical Depression Ten while located 420 miles (675 km) west of the Cape Verde islands. Moving westward into an area of warm waters and low vertical shear, the depression steadily intensified, and was named Tropical Storm Fabian on August 28 as convection increased and banding features became more prominent.

Banding features and outflow continued to develop as a ring of convection formed around the center of Fabian, and on August 30, the storm intensified into a hurricane while gradually slowing its motion to the west-northwest. As banding features and outflow became better defined, an eye developed in the center of the deepest convection. Fabian quickly strengthened and attained major hurricane status late that day. Deep convection became very concentric around the 11.5 mile (18.5 km) wide eye, and the hurricane reached winds of 125 mph (200 km/h) early on August 31. At this time, the deepest convection near the eye degraded in appearance, and Fabian temporarily stopped its strengthening trend. Later that day, the eye became distinct again within a perfectly round area of deep convection. Outflow continued to expand in all directions, and Fabian intensified into a Category 4 hurricane late on August 31. Thunderstorm activity near the eyewall became more intense, and the cloud tops in the eyewall became much cooler; simultaneously, outflow away from the eye became much more symmetrical, both signs of an intensifying tropical cyclone. Fabian reached its peak intensity of 145 mph (230 km/h) on September 1 while located 345 miles (555 km) east of the northern Lesser Antilles.

After maintaining its peak intensity for 12 hours Fabian degraded due to internal fluctuations, and began to weaken. The hurricane turned to the northwest on September 2 in response to a weakness in the subtropical ridge, a break caused by a mid-level circulation over the southwest Atlantic Ocean. After fading back to a Category 3 hurricane, Fabian re-intensified on September 4, and regained Category 4 status for a short time. The hurricane weakened again as it accelerated northward towards Bermuda, a motion due to an approaching mid-level trough. As small pockets of dry air became entrained in the eyewall, Fabian weakened slightly, passing just 14 miles (23 km) west of Bermuda on September 5 as a 120 mph (180 km/h) Category 3 hurricane. The eastern portion of the eyewall moved over the island, resulting in a direct hit; however, as the center did not move over the island, Fabian did not make landfall. After passing the island, the hurricane accelerated northeastward, and weakened to a 105 mph (170 km/h) Category 2 hurricane on September 7. Steady weakening occurred as the hurricane moved into an area of increasing wind shear, drier air, and progressively cooler waters. On September 8, while located 680 miles (1095 km) east-northeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland, Fabian transitioned into an extratropical storm, with no deep convection remaining near the center. The extratropical remnant turned to the north on September 9, and on September 10 it merged with another extratropical storm while located between southern Greenland and Iceland.