page_title: Hurricane Emily (2005)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Emily (2005) / Meteorological history
context_page_description: Hurricane Emily was a powerful, early season, Cape Verde tropical cyclone that caused significant damage across the Caribbean Sea to Mexico. It was also the earliest forming Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record in a season and the most intense to form before August. At the time, Emily was the earliest-forming fifth named storm in the Atlantic on record; this record has since been surpassed by 2020's Tropical Storm Edouard. After forming on July 10, 2005, the storm moved through the central Atlantic Ocean before passing through the Windward Islands on July 14. Tracking generally towards the west-northwest, the storm gradually intensified as it traversed the Caribbean, peaking as a Category 5 hurricane on July 16, marking the earliest date for a storm to do so during the course of a given year. The system subsequently made landfall in the Yucatán Peninsula as a Category 4. Quickly crossing the peninsula, Emily emerged into the Gulf of Mexico and reorganized. On July 20, the storm struck Tamaulipas as a major hurricane and rapidly dissipated within 24 hours.
context_section_description: On July 6, a tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa. Moving westward, the disturbance gradually organized until July 10, at which point convection became more concentrated, and it is estimated Tropical Depression Five formed in the central tropical Atlantic that evening. Late on July 11, it strengthened and was named Tropical Storm Emily. Initially forecast to strengthen rapidly and move west-northwest through the Greater Antilles, Emily instead moved almost due west toward the Windward Islands, remaining a moderate tropical storm. The storm languished while moving quickly west, and struggled with maintaining its form. Contrary to the normal occurrence that hurricanes leave a cold wake behind, Hurricane Dennis had made portions of the Caribbean Sea warmer, and therefore more favorable for tropical cyclone development. Late on July 13, Emily strengthened rapidly and reached hurricane strength while passing north of Tobago and entering the eastern Caribbean. On July 14, Emily made landfall in northern Grenada with 85 mph (135 km/h) winds. Overall damage was fairly minor to moderate as the island were still repairing from a much more destructive and powerful storm such as Ivan, 10 months ago.
  The intensification trend picked up again the next day with a fairly rapid drop in the storm's central pressure as it entered the southeastern Caribbean Sea, a region typically unfavorable for intensification. Hurricane Emily's winds increased in reaction, briefly bringing the storm to Category 4 strength early on July 15. During the day, the storm's strength fluctuated greatly, dropping to a Category 2 storm and then rebuilding to Category 4. On July 16, Emily strengthened considerably, making it the strongest hurricane ever on record to form in the month of July with peak winds of 160 mph (260 km/h), the earliest known Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin. Initially at this point Emily was thought to have peaked as a Category 4 storm, but the post-storm analysis showed it was indeed a Category 5 hurricane. Unrelated to Emily, Typhoon Haitang developed and intensified into a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon around the same time Emily intensified into a Category 5 hurricane, marking the first time since Typhoons Ivan and Joan in 1997 when two tropical cyclones of Category 5 strength existed simultaneously in the Northern Hemisphere. The storm weakened slightly as it continued westward, and remained a Category 4 while passing south of Jamaica and, on July 17, the Cayman Islands. Emily continued on its nearly straight track to the west-northwest, weakening somewhat but remaining at Category 4 until striking Cozumel just before mainland landfall at Playa del Carmen at 06:30 UTC on July 18. Sustained winds were 135 mph (215 km/h), and the eyewall passed directly over Cozumel.
  The center of circulation emerged over the Gulf of Mexico later that morning. Passage over land disrupted the hurricane's center of circulation, and it had weakened to a minimal hurricane with wind speeds of 75 mph (120 km/h). However, several hours over the warm waters of the western Gulf provided the energy needed for Emily to regenerate, and by midnight wind speeds were increasing. The increase in wind speed stalled, but the storm continued to become better organized. Emily started to show very symmetrical outflow, but the hurricane's strongest winds were being found at three different distances from the center. However, the outer wind radii subsided in the end, and the inner core prevailed. The result was a rapid strengthening of the inner core on the evening of July 19. The pressure dropped about 30 millibars and the winds went from 90 mph (145 km/h) to more than 125 mph (200 km/h), all within a few hours.
  Further strengthening was expected by forecasters, but did not come. The storm's motion slowed, and the center began wobbling erratically toward the coast. The storm made landfall around 11:00 UTC on July 20 near San Fernando in Tamaulipas. The storm had sustained winds of 125 mph (200 km/h), Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. After
caption: Hurricane Emily making landfall on July 18, 2005
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