page_title: Hurricane Fay
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Fay / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: English: Track map of Hurricane Fay of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir–Simpson scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm, according to the legend below. Saffir–Simpson scale Tropical depression≤38 mph≤62 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–118 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5≥157 mph≥252 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm type Tropical cyclone Subtropical cyclone Extratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance / Monsoon depression
context_page_description: Hurricane Fay was the first hurricane to make landfall on Bermuda since Emily in 1987. The sixth named storm and fifth hurricane of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, Fay evolved from a broad weather disturbance several hundred miles northeast of the Lesser Antilles on October 10. Initially a subtropical cyclone with an expansive wind field and asymmetrical cloud field, the storm gradually attained tropical characteristics as it turned north, transitioning into a tropical storm early on October 11. Despite being plagued by disruptive wind shear for most of its duration, Tropical Storm Fay steadily intensified. Veering toward the east, Fay briefly achieved Category 1 hurricane status while making landfall on Bermuda early on October 12. Wind shear eventually took its toll on Fay, causing the hurricane to weaken to a tropical storm later that day and degenerate into an open trough early on October 13.
  A few tropical cyclone warnings and watches were issued in anticipation of Fay's impact on Bermuda. Despite its modest strength, Fay produced extensive damage on Bermuda.
context_section_description: Hurricane Fay originated in a disturbance calved from a mid- to upper-level trough over the east-central Atlantic. On October 7, a broad region of showers and thunderstorms formed around it, possibly enhanced by moisture from a tropical wave to the south. Tracking westward, the energy coalesced into an upper-level cold-core low on the following day, and an associated trough formed at the surface. Southwesterly wind shear initially hindered development, but as the system became more vertically aligned on October 9, the hostile winds calmed. In turn, a curved banding feature was able to take form. Early on October 10, satellite imagery indicated that the center of circulation had become better-defined, with a swath of deep convection to the north and west of the low. It became a subtropical storm at 06:00 UTC on October 10, though it was not named "Fay" until later that day, after initially being classified Subtropical Depression Seven. Its involvement with the upper-level low and wide radius of maximum winds precluded designation as a fully tropical cyclone.
  Immediately after forming, the storm moved northwestward around the periphery of a ridge of high pressure in the central Atlantic. As Fay moved away from its parent upper low, wind shear once again increased. The National Hurricane Center originally expected the cyclone to remain weak, but Fay began organizing more quickly than anticipated. Relatively strong winds sampled by a Hurricane Hunters aircraft necessitated a special off-hour advisory to raise the cyclone's intensity estimate. The storm started to acquire characteristics of a fully tropical system, and despite strong southerly wind shear preventing thunderstorms from developing near the center, Fay's wind speeds steadily increased. Upper-level air divergence from the nearby non-tropical low may have contributed to the storm's resilience. After convection became more symmetrical and the wind field contracted, Fay transitioned into a tropical storm at 06:00 UTC on October 11. At the same time, the system turned toward the north around the central Atlantic ridge, soon gaining an easterly component to its movement. Fay remained heavily sheared, with the deepest convection still displaced from the center.
  Forecasters originally believed Fay to have only briefly been a hurricane, but post-season reanalysis revealed that the system had actually strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane by early on October 12 and maintained that strength for 12 hours. The upgrade was confirmed by buoy and land observations and weather radar data. At 08:10 UTC, the cyclone made landfall on Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), the hurricane's peak intensity. Fay was the first hurricane to make landfall on the island since Emily in 1987. Its satellite presentation improved as a mid-level eye feature formed, though the system remained lopsided. Fay then accelerated toward the east-northeast ahead of a shortwave trough to the north, which also acted to further enhance shear in the area. The hurricane finally succumbed to the persistent wind shear when the low-level center decoupled from the mid-level low and became elongated. By the early morning hours of October 13, Fay started transitioning into an extratropical cyclone as it entered a baroclinic environment and ingested colder, drier air. The circulation rapidly deteriorated; consequently, the NHC issued its last operational advisory on the system at 21:00 UTC on October 12. Early the following day, the storm degenerated into an open trough, ending its existence as a tropical cyclone. Shortly after, the system became reestablished as a frontal cyclone, which lost its definition over the northeastern Atlantic on October 15.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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