page_title: Timeline of the 1987 Atlantic hurricane season
section_title: September
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the 1987 Atlantic hurricane season / Timeline / September
caption_attribution_description: English: On September 22, 1987, NOAA's two WP-3D hurricane reconnaissance aircraft flew an eight hour mission out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, into Hurricane Emily. Although small, Emily packed some of the most violent turbulence and strongest updrafts and downdrafts and ever encountered in a hurricane. Flying at 10,000 and 18,000 feet respectively, the two NOAA planes found updrafts in excess of 50 mph (25 m/s) and downdrafts over 40 mph (20 m/s). The low aircraft encountered these strong vertical winds in a ring 5 miles across surrounding Emily's eye. Such widespread vertical motion had never before been observed in a hurricane. These powerful updrafts and downdrafts hurled the plane up and down up to 1,500 feet during eyewall penetrations, despite the pilot's efforts to keep the plane flying straight and level.
context_page_description: The 1987 Atlantic hurricane season was an event in the annual Atlantic hurricane season in the north Atlantic Ocean. It was a below-average season, having fewer named storms than in a normal year, that resulted in little impact throughout the Atlantic basin; the United States recorded no hurricane-related fatalities, making the 1987 season the fourth to do so since 1976. The season officially began on June 1, 1987 and ended November 30, 1987. These dates, adopted by convention, historically describe the period in each year when most systems form. Even so, a pre-season storm, Tropical Depression One, led to the season's starting on May 25. Storm activity ended several weeks early; the final storm of the season, Tropical Depression Fourteen, dissipated on November 4.
  The season had fourteen tropical depressions, of which seven intensified into tropical storms—an average season has ten tropical storms—three became hurricanes and one, Emily, became a major hurricane. The inactivity throughout the basin was linked to persistent, strong vertical wind shear; most of the season's storms were unable to intensify due to the shear, resulting in a low number of named storms and hurricanes.
context_section_description: September 2
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression Six dissipates about 895 mi (1,440 km) west of Antigua and Barbuda.
  September 5
  8:00 am AST (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Seven forms roughly 445 mi (720 km) west of Brava, Cape Verde.
  8:00 pm AST (0000 UTC September 6) – Tropical Depression Eight forms around 115 mi (185 km) northwest of Tobago.
  September 6
  8:00 pm EDT (0000 UTC September 7) – Tropical Depression Nine forms roughly 145 mi (235 km) northeast of Freeport, Bahamas.
  September 7
  8:00 am AST (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Seven strengthens into Tropical Storm Cindy about 1,050 mi (1,690 km) northwest of the Cape Verde Islands.
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression Eight makes landfall with winds of 35 mph (55 km/h) near Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua shortly before dissipating.
  2:00 pm EDT (0000 UTC September 8) – Tropical Depression Nine makes landfall near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with winds of 35 mph (55 km/h).
  September 8
  2:00 am EDT (0600 UTC) – Tropical Depression Nine dissipates over North Carolina.
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression Ten forms about 205 mi (330 km) southwest of Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
  September 10
  (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Ten strengthens into Tropical Storm Dennis while located about 275 mi (445 km) south of Brava, Cape Verde.
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – The last advisory on Tropical Storm Cindy is released as it becomes extratropical over the northern Atlantic.
  September 13
  8:00 am AST (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Eleven forms near 375 mi (605 km) northeast of Barbados.
  September 17
  8:00 am AST (1200 UTC) – Tropical Depression Eleven dissipates about 280 mi (450 km) northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  September 18
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Storm Dennis weakens into a tropical depression while located around 660 mi (1,060 km) northeast of Barbados.
  September 19
  8:00 pm AST (0000 UTC September 20) – Tropical Depression Twelve forms roughly 605 mi (975 km) southeast of Barbados.
  September 20
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression Dennis transitions into an extratropical cyclone over the central Atlantic.
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – Tropical Depression Twelve strengthens into Tropical Storm Emily while located about 245 mi (395 km) southeast of Barbados.
  September 21
  8:00 am AST (1200 UTC) – Tropical Storm Emily makes landfall in St. Vincent with winds of 50 mph (85 km/h).
  September 22
  2:00 am AST (0600 UTC) – Tropical Storm Emily intensifies into a Category 1 hurricane.
  8:00 am AST (1200 UTC) – Hurricane Emily intensifies into a Category 2 hurricane.
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – Hurricane Emily reaches its peak intensity with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) as it intensifies into a Category 3 hurricane.
  11:00 pm AST (0300 UTC) – Hurricane Emily weakens to a Category 2 hurricane and makes landfall near Barahona, Dominican Republic with winds of 110 mph (175 km/h).
  September 23
  2:00 am AST (0600 UTC) – Hurricane Emily weakens into a Category 1 hurricane.
  8:00 am AST (1200 UTC) – Hurricane Emily weakens into a tropical storm.
  September 25
  2:00 am AST (0600 UTC) – Tropical Storm Emily re-intensifies into a hurricane while located about 235 mi (380 km) southwest of Bermuda.
  7:45 am AST (1145 UTC) – Hurricane Emily makes landfall in Bermuda with winds of 85 mph (140 km/h).
  September 26
  2:00 pm AST (1800 UTC) – Hurricane Emily transitions into an extratropical cyclone over the northeastern Atlantic.
caption: The eye of Hurricane Emily as seen by the Hurricane Hunters during a reconnaissance mission on September 22
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