Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary #209 (July 30 - August 6, 1995)

[Jack Beven]

This report is compiled from warnings issued by:
National Hurricane Center Central Pacific Hurricane Center
Naval Pacific Meteor./Ocean. Center Fiji Meteorological Service
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Joint Typhoon Warning Center
Japanese Meteorological Agency Bureau of Meteorology, Australia
Philippine Meteorological Service Royal Observatory of Hong Kong
Indian Meteorological Department Reunion Meteorological Service
Mauritius Meteorological Service
(others may be added as they become available)


WEEKLY TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY #209 JULY 30 - AUGUST 6, 1995

Author's Special Note: This issue marks the start of my fifth year of
writing the weekly summaries. I would like to thank everyone who has written
me with information, advice, comments, and compliments over the past four
years. I would also like to thank the staff at all the tropical cyclone
warning centers across the world, without whom these summaries would not be
possible.

North Atlantic Basin:

Tropical Storm Dean: At the start of the summary period, Dean was just
south of Galveston, Texas, moving west-northwest with 40 kt winds. Dean
moved inland just southwest of Galveston early on 31 July, and the system
weakened to a low pressure system over land later that day. The remnants of
Dean were traceable for several more days as they lingered over central and
northern Texas.

Dean's winds and storm tides apparently caused little damage. However, the
storm produced several tornadoes which produced damage in southeast Texas.
Also, storm-total rainfalls of up to 13 in (330 mm) produced some flooding in
Texas. No monetary damage figures are available at this time.

Hurricane Erin: Tropical Storm Erin formed over the southeastern Bahama
Islands near 23N 74W on 31 July. Initially moving west-northwest, the storm
briefly moved northwest on 1 August before resuming a west-northwest track.
This course brought the storm through the eastern Bahamas. Erin reached
hurricane strength on 1 August with a peak intensity of 75 kt later that day.
The hurricane continued west-northwest on 2 August, as it made landfall near
Vero Beach, Florida. It then continued across the Florida Peninsula and
moved into the Gulf of Mexico. Erin weakened to a tropical storm over land,
but it regained hurricane intensity south of Apalachicola, Florida early on
3 August. Erin turned northwest at this time and made landfall later that day
near Pensacola, Florida later with 75 kt winds. The storm continued northwest
over land and weakened to a low pressure area over Mississippi on 4 August.

Erin affected the Bahama Islands, the central Florida Peninsula, the
Florida Panhandle, and southern Alabama. Reconnaissance aircraft measured
a minimum pressure of 980 mb late on 1 August while Erin was over the Bahamas
and a pressure of 973 mb just as Erin was making landfall in Pensacola. There
are numerous surface reports of tropical storm- and hurricane-force winds.
Freeport on Grand Bahama Island reported 68 kt sustained winds with gusts to
88 kt at 2146 UTC 1 August. The minimum pressure was 987.5 mb at 2250 UTC.
Vero Beach reported a minimum pressure of 986.1 mb at 0155 UTC 2 August, while
Melbourne, Florida reported several peak gusts of 66 kt. Hurlbert Field at
Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, estimated 65 kt sustained winds with gusts to
85 kt at 1455 UTC 3 August. The Pensacola Naval Air Station reported 53 kt
sustained winds with gusts to 82 kt at 1455 UTC 3 August.

Heavy rains accompanied Erin, with amounts up to 10 in (254 mm) reported.
One tornado occurred over the Turks and Caicos islands, with several other
unconfirmed tornadoes over Florida.

Current press reports indicate that Erin killed 4 people over Florida,
with as many as 7 others missing at sea. The storm caused considerable crop
and property damage in the eastern Bahamas, although monetary damage figures
are not yet available. Further property damage occurred in Florida with
amounts estimated up to 360 million dollars. Most of this occurred in the
Pensacola area.

Note: Preliminary best track, warning, and forecast verification data on
Erin are now available on the National Hurricane Center home page at URL
http://nhc-hp3.nhc.noaa.gov/index.html

Tropical Depression Six: Tropical Depression Six formed over the Gulf of
Mexico near 20N 95W on 5 August. Initially drifting west-northwest, the
system turned northwest the next day. At the end of the summary period,
Tropical Depression Six was moving northwest across the Mexican coast between
Tampico and Tuxpan with 30 kt winds.

Reconnaissance aircraft measured a minimum pressure of 1003 mb on 6 August,
along with winds near tropical storm force. While this system almost reached
tropical storm strength at landfall, there are no reports of damage or
casualties at this time.

Eastern North Pacific Basin (E of 140 Deg. W):

Tropical Storm Dalila: At the start of the summary period, Dalila was
moving west-northwest with 40 kt winds. Dalila continued west-northwest on
31 July as it weakened to a depression, and this motion continued until the
cyclone dissipated near 21N 126W on 2 August.

Tropical Storm Erick: Tropical Depression 6E formed near 14N 114W on 2
August. Initially moving northwest, the system reached tropical storm strength
on 4 August as it turned west-northwest. Erick turned northwest on 5 August
as it reached a peak intensity of 55 kt. The cyclone slowed to a northward
drift on 6 August as it weakened to a depression, and at the end of the
summary period Erick was continuing this track with 30 kt winds.

Central North Pacific Basin (180 Deg. W to 140 Deg. W): No tropical cyclones.

Western North Pacific Basin (W of 180 Deg.):

Tropical Storm Gary: At the start of the summary period, Gary was moving
north toward the Chinese coast with 55 kt winds. The storm reached a peak
intensity of 60 kt just as it was making landfall near Shantou, China. The
storm weakened to a low pressure area over land later that day.

Shantou reported a minimum pressure of 984.8 mb at 0300 UTC 31 July 31,
although maximum reported winds were below tropical storm force. So far,
there are no reports of damage or casualties from China or from the Philip-
pines (affected by Gary as it first developed).

North Indian Ocean Basin: No tropical cyclones.

South Indian Ocean Basin (W of 135 Deg. E): No tropical cyclones.

South Pacific Ocean Basin (E of 135 Deg. E): No tropical cyclones.


Disclaimer: While an effort has been made to insure that this information is
as accurate as possible, this is a preliminary and unofficial report drawn
from operational warnings. Thus, it may not always agree with the best track
information published after the storm is over. Please address any questions
or comments on the information this week to Jack Beven at Internet addresses:

jbe...@delphi.com

or

be...@trdis.aoml.erl.gov

Past text copies of the Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary can be obtained via
anonymous ftp from squall.met.fsu.edu in directory pub/jack. They are also
available by e-mail. Please send an e-mail message to Jack Beven if you are
interested.

A digitized version of the weekly summary with DMSP polar orbiting imagery
is available over the World Wide Web. This is courtesy of the DMSP satellite
archive. It can be found at: http://web.ngdc.noaa.gov/ under the Weekly
Tropical Cyclone Summary link of the DMSP Satellite Archive home page.

For more information on the imagery and how to retrieve the digitized
summary and images by other methods, please contact the DMSP archive at:

dm...@ngdc.noaa.gov