Hurricane David - Meteorological History

Meteorological History

On August 25, the US National Hurricane Centre reported that a tropical depression had developed within an area of disturbed weather, that was located about 1,400 km (870 mi) to the southeast of the Cape Verde Islands. During that day the depression gradually developed further as it moved westwards, under the influence of the subtropical ridge of high pressure that was located to the north of the system before during the next day the NHC reported that the system had become a tropical storm and named it David. David continued to strengthen, becoming a hurricane on August 27. As it moved west-northwestward on from August 27–28, it rapidly intensified to a 150 mph (240 km/h) major hurricane. It weakened slightly to a 140 mph (225 km/h) hurricane, but restrengthened by the time David ravaged the tiny Leeward Island of Dominica on the 29th.

David continued west-northwest, and became a Category 5 hurricane in the northeast Caribbean Sea, reaching peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and minimum central pressure of 924 mbar (hPa) on August 30. An upper-level trough pulled David northward into Hispaniola as a Category 5 hurricane on the August 31. The eye passed almost directly over Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic with over a million people. The storm crossed over the island and emerged as a weak hurricane after drenching the islands.

After crossing the Windward Passage, David struck eastern Cuba as a minimal hurricane on September 1. It weakened to a tropical storm over land, but quickly re-strengthened as it again reached open waters. David turned to the northwest along the western periphery of the subtropical ridge, and re-intensified to a 100 mph (160 km/h) Category 2 hurricane while over the Bahamas, where it caused heavy damage. Despite initial forecasts of a Miami, Florida landfall, the hurricane turned to the north-northwest just before landfall to strike near West Palm Beach, Florida on September 3. It paralleled the Florida coastline just inland until emerging into the western Atlantic Ocean at New Smyrna Beach, Florida later on September 3. David continued to the north-northwest, and made its final landfall just south of Savannah, Georgia as a minimal hurricane on September 5. It turned to the northeast while weakening over land, and became extratropical on the 6th over New York. As an extratropical storm, David continued to the northeast over New England and the Canadian Maritimes. David intensified once more as it crossed the far north Atlantic, clipping northwestern Iceland before moving eastward well north of the Faroe Islands on September 10.