page_title: Hurricane Dennis (1981)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Dennis (1981) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane ScaleTDTS12345 English: Hurricane Dennis (1981) track. Uses the color scheme from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
context_page_description: Hurricane Dennis caused severe flooding in Miami-Dade County, Florida, in August 1981. The tenth tropical cyclone and fourth named storm of the season, Dennis developed from a tropical wave well south of Cabo Verde on August 7. The depression intensified into a tropical storm early the next day. Dennis then encountered strong wind shear, causing the storm to weaken to a tropical depression on August 11. After crossing the Windward Islands on August 12, Dennis degenerated into a tropical wave several hours later over the Caribbean Sea. The wave became a tropical depression again late on August 15 while approaching Cuba. Dennis reintensified into a tropical storm before landfall in Matanzas Province. The cyclone emerged into the Straits of Florida on August 16, before striking the Florida Keys and then Monroe County early the next day. It drifted across Florida, reaching the Atlantic near Cape Canaveral on August 19. Dennis continued to intensify and made landfall near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, but moved east-northeastward and soon tracked offshore.
context_section_description: Satellite imagery indicated that a well-organized tropical wave emerged into the Atlantic Ocean from the west coast of Africa on August 5. The wave headed westward and organized further, developing into a tropical depression at 06:00 UTC on August 7 while situated about 300 mi (480 km) south-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. Early on August 8, satellite imagery indicated that the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Dennis. The cyclone strengthened slightly further, reaching winds of 45 mph (75 km/h); wind shear prevented additional deepening and eventually caused Dennis to weaken to a tropical depression while approaching the Lesser Antilles on August 11 Early on August 12, the system crossed through the Windward Islands with a poorly-defined circulation, making landfall in or passing close to Martinique. Dennis continued weakening after entering the Caribbean Sea, degenerating back into a tropical wave at 00:00 UTC on August 13 while located about 170 mi (270 km) south of Dominican Republic. 
  The remnant tropical wave gradually curved northwestward and brushed western Jamaica on August 14. As the wave approached the south coast of central Cuba, it rapidly re-organized into a tropical cyclone, becoming a tropical depression again at 18:00 UTC on August 15. Around 00:00 UTC the following day, the depression re-intensified into a tropical storm and made landfall in Cuba near Playa Girón in Matanzas Province. Dennis moved northward across the island and emerged into the Straits of Florida near Cárdenas shortly after 06:00 UTC. While crossing the Straits of Florida, deep convection associated with the cyclone attempted to become concentrated near the center and develop an eyewall. However, interaction with a trough prevented Dennis from intensifying despite passing over warm sea surface temperatures. The storm decelerated while approaching Florida due to weak steering currents.
  Late on August 16, Dennis moved across the middle Florida Keys as a minimal tropical storm. Between 06:00 UTC and 12:00 UTC on August 17, Dennis made landfall in rural mainland Monroe County with winds of 40 mph (65 km/h). The cyclone moved slowly north-northeastward across Florida until emerging into the Atlantic just north of Cape Canaveral early on August 19. Dennis continued to deepen while moving offshore the Southeastern United States. The storm curved northeastward and made landfall near Emerald Isle, North Carolina,
  with winds of 65 mph (100 km/h). Dennis then accelerated east-northeastward and soon re-emerged into the Atlantic from Hatteras Island. Later on August 20, a reconnaissance aircraft flight observed sustained winds of 74 mph (119 km/h) and a barometric pressure of 995 mbar (29.4 inHg) – the lowest pressure associated with the storm. On this basis, Dennis was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane on Saffir–Simpson scale at 18:00 UTC. The hurricane intensified slightly further, peaking with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) around 00:00 UTC on August 21. However, Dennis soon entered a region of increasingly colder sea surface temperatures, weakening into a tropical storm about six hours later. The system also began losing tropical characteristics, transitioning into an extratropical cyclone about 425 mi (685 km) south of Sable Island at 00:00 UTC on August 22. After Dennis became extratropical, the ship Carista Express observed sustained winds of 69 mph (111 km/h). The remnants turned northward on August 24 and began weakening. By August 26, the extratropical storm was absorbed by a frontal system.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
exif: {}