Meteorological History
On June 16, satellite imagery revealed an area of increased convection east of the Bahamas, which was believed to have been associated with a tropical wave. On June 17, the convection increased in organization at the lower levels of the atmosphere. By 1800 UTC, the system had organized sufficiently to be designated as a tropical depression, making it the first of the season. Initially, the depression tracked north-northwest under the steering currents of the low-level flow around the western periphery of the Atlantic subtropical ridge. Strong wind shear due to fast upper-level winds associated with a cold-core low over the eastern Gulf of Mexico hindered further intensification for a time, but on June 18, an area of deep convection developed north of the center of circulation. Based on analysis of reconnaissance data, the tropical depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Arthur at 1900 UTC on June 19.
Further strengthening occurred, as the storm attained peak winds of 45 mph (75 km/h). With time, Arthur gradually turned northeast and made landfall near Cape Lookout, North Carolina early on June 20. The center moved over the Pamlico Sound and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and exited into the Atlantic. Although the storm contained minimal deep convection, satellite imagery indicated that Arthur had a well-defined low-level center. The tropical storm weakened to a tropical depression about 100 mi (160 km) northeast of Cape Hatteras, and accelerated towards the northeast when westerly steering currents increased. Deep convection increased once again on June 21, although the lack of symmetry indicated that the remnants of Arthur were losing tropical characteristics. Forward speed increased to 40 mph (64 km/h) and the storm subsequently lost all tropical characteristics at 1200 UTC on June 21, while centered about 350 mi (560 km) north-northeast of Bermuda. The extratropical remnants tracked northeastward for 36 hours, and were last identified about midway between Newfoundland and the Azores, where it was absorbed by a much larger extratropical cyclone over the North Atlantic.
Read more about this topic: Tropical Storm Arthur (1996)
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