Hurricane Eloise - Meteorological History

Meteorological History

The origins of Hurricane Eloise trace back to a tropical wave that emerged from the western coast of Africa on September 6, 1975. Satellite imagery indicated that the system was initially disjointed and poorly developed, although there was evidence of a low-level circulation. The disturbance tracked westward for several days as it slowly matured. On September 13, a ship called the Gulf Hansa recorded winds of around 25 mph (40 km/h) and 10 feet (3.0 m) seas in association with the system. Shortly thereafter, a reconnaissance aircraft found a center of circulation 575 miles (925 km) east of the Virgin Islands, and it is estimated that the storm became a tropical depression at 0600 UTC.

The depression continued moving towards the west as it gradually strengthened. On September 16, the system attained tropical storm status and was designated Eloise; accordingly, the first advisory on the system was issued by the San Juan Weather Bureau office. While in the vicinity of a strengthening anticyclone aloft, Eloise became better organized, and the storm rapidly intensified and reached Category 1 hurricane status 18 hours after being named. The cyclone soon made landfall on the Dominican Republic, inhibiting further development. Although initially predicted to remain north of land, the storm moved across northern Hispaniola and then tracked across southeastern Cuba. After 36 hours with much of its circulation over mountainous terrain, Eloise deteriorated to a tropical storm on September 17.

The cyclone emerged over the open waters of the northern Caribbean on September 19, passing Jamaica to the north as it moved away from Cuba. Despite favorable upper-level conditions, its interaction with land—combined with the weakening of a ridge to the north—left the storm's center distorted. Eloise remained a fairly disorganized tropical storm until September 20, when it approached the Yucatan Peninsula and began to re-intensify. The storm crossed over the northern tip of the peninsula as it began to turn northward in response to an approaching trough. Between September 17 and September 21, however, reports on the storm were scarce, leading to uncertainty in its exact location and strength. Upon entering the Gulf of Mexico, Eloise quickly organized. The trough enhanced the wind divergence over the storm's center, allowing it to strengthen once again to reach hurricane force about 345 miles (555 km) south of New Orleans, Louisiana.

On September 22, the cyclone intensified to attain Category 2 strength, and became a major hurricane of Category 3 status shortly thereafter as it turned towards the northeast. Several ships penetrated the storm's center during its passage through the gulf. The hurricane also moved over two experimental buoys which recorded data on the storm, aiding meteorologists in their forecasts. Hurricane Eloise continued to strengthen until it reached its peak winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of about 955 mbar (hPa; 28.2 inHg). It moved ashore along the Florida Panhandle near Panama City on September 23. Shortly after making landfall, the hurricane rapidly degenerated. Just six hours later, it had weakened into a tropical storm, while situated over eastern Alabama. It further weakened into a tropical depression at 0000 UTC on September 24. The depression transitioned into an extratropical storm over Virginia, and became indistinguishable by later that same day. The remnant moisture, however, merged with a weather front to produce widespread and heavy precipitation.