Hurricane Hugo - Meteorological History

Meteorological History

Hurricane Hugo originated as a tropical wave, which moved off the west coast of Africa on September 9. Soon after moving off the African coast, it was classified as Tropical Depression Eleven southeast of the Cape Verde Islands. Winds were initially 30 mph (48 km/h) but they reached 35 mph (56 km/h) soon after. Moving on a steady westward track at 18 knots (21 mph, 33 k/h), Tropical Depression Eleven steadily intensified, becoming a tropical storm on September 11 at 1800 UTC; it received the name Hugo. On September 13, Hugo rapidly intensified, and reached hurricane strength 1265 miles (2035 km) east of the Leeward Islands. A low-pressure area to the south caused Hugo to gradually turn to the west-northwest, while the storm was slowly strengthening. Shortly after, Hurricane Hugo began to rapidly intensify; 24 hours after it was classified as a hurricane, it had become a category 2 hurricane. After this bout of rapid strengthening, Hugo began to rapidly deepen, becoming a major hurricane early the next morning.

After becoming a major hurricane, Hugo reached Category 4 strength, while moving slowly west-northwest. The hurricane briefly reached category 5 intensity on September 15 at 1800 UTC. Its maximum sustained winds had increased to 160 mph (260 km/h) and the minimum central pressure had dropped to 918 millibars (27.1 inHg). After peaking in intensity as a category 5 hurricane, Hugo weakened slightly to a category 4 hurricane. In the early hours of September 17, Hugo crossed in between Guadeloupe and Montserrat while its winds were near 140 mph (230 km/h), when hurricane-force winds extended only 45 mi (72 km) from the center. Less than 24 hours later, it made another landfall on the island of St. Croix, with the same intensity. That day, Hurricane Hugo also made landfalls in Puerto Rico, in Vieques and Fajardo, though it was slightly weaker.

Hugo began to accelerate to the northwest soon after exiting eastern Puerto Rico. On September 18, the hurricane was located a couple of hundred miles east of Florida when it began a more northward track, in response to a steering flow associated with a upper-level low pressure area that was moving across the southeastern United States. Hugo then began to strengthen again, and it reached a secondary peak at 1800 UTC on September 21 as a Category 4 hurricane. The maximum sustained winds were 140 mph (230 km/h), while the minimum central pressure was 944 millibars (27.9 inHg). On September 22 at 0400 UTC, Hugo made landfall on Isle of Palms, South Carolina, at his secondary peak as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. The storm continued inland, and weakened to a Category 1 hurricane as the cloudy eye passed over Charlotte, North Carolina. Hugo continued on the weakening trend weakened to a tropical storm later on the same day over central North Carolina. The storm continued weakening as it moved inland, and on September 23, the storm weakened to a remnant low. Its remnant low continued to accelerate north, and they reached the far northern Atlantic before dissipating on September 25.