Hurricane Dennis Strengthening and Could Become Cat 4
Posted on July 9, 2005
Hurricane Dennis is intesifying as it heads for landfall. The storm weakened over land in Cuba but has been strengthening over the Gulf of Mexico. As of the 7PM est advisory from the National Hurricane Center sustained winds are up to 115 mph and the pressure has dropped to 947 mb. That makes Dennis a dangerous category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The forecast from the NHC indicates that Dennis could become a Category 4 storm before making landfall. However, a major storm hurricane is a very dangerous storm whether it is a Cat 3, 4 or 5. The NHC forecasts Dennis to make landfall somewhere between the east coast of Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. Hurricane Dennis is a very unusual storm. It is the earliest Category 4 hurricane to develop in the Caribbean and the strongest hurricane so early in the season. This is also the earliest Atlantic hurricane system on record to have four storms so early. Usually August, September and October see the majority of the hurricanes and most of the stronger storms as well. Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D., a Director of Meteorology at Wunderground.com, says the storm could still become a strong Cat 4 and possibly a Cat 5.
Aircraft recon just measured a central pressure of 947 mb at 5:15pm, an 11 mb drop in 90 minutes--a rarely observed rate of intensification. The eyewall shrank from 15 miles in diameter to 12 miles, and the satellite presentation confirms that the storm is undergoing explosive deepening. Dennis will surely be a strong Category 4 storm in about 6 hours, when the winds have time to catch up to the pressure falls, and Category 5 is not out of the question. Satellite imagery shows an outer wind maximum is probably forming, meaning Dennis will enter another eyewall replacement cycle tonight after this phase of explosive deepening is over.