page_title: Hurricane Nadine
section_title: Strengthening and initial peak intensity
hierarchical_section_title: Hurricane Nadine / Strengthening and initial peak intensity
caption_attribution_description: English: Hurricane Nadine on September 15, 2012
context_page_description: Hurricane Nadine was the fourth-longest-lived Atlantic hurricane on record. The fourteenth tropical cyclone and named storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, Nadine developed from a tropical wave west of Cape Verde on September 10. By the following day, it had strengthened into Tropical Storm Nadine. After initially tracking northwestward, Nadine turned northward, well away from any landmass. Early on September 15, Nadine reached hurricane status as it was curving eastward. Soon after, an increase in vertical wind shear weakened Nadine and by September 16 it was back to a tropical storm. On the following day, the storm began moving northeastward and threatened the Azores but late on September 19, Nadine veered east-southeastward before reaching the islands. Nonetheless, the storm produced tropical storm force winds on a few islands. On September 21, the storm curved south-southeastward while south of the Azores. Later that day, Nadine transitioned into a non-tropical low pressure area.
  Due to favorable conditions, the remnants of Nadine regenerated into a tropical cyclone on September 24.
context_section_description: By September 12, a central dense overcast developed and due to favorable conditions, the National Hurricane Center noted the possibility of rapid deepening. Intensification continued at a quicker albeit less than rapid rate on September 12. Later that day, sustained winds reached 65 mph (105 km/h). By early on September 13, convective banding wrapped almost completely around the center and cloud tops reached temperatures as low as −112 °F (−80 °C). However, because microwave satellite data could not determine if an eye had developed, Nadine's intensity was held at 70 mph (110 km/h)—–just below the threshold of hurricane status. The National Hurricane Center noted that "the window for Nadine to strengthen may be closing", citing computer model consensus of an increase in wind shear and little change in structure. The storm then began experiencing moderate southwesterly wind shear on September 13, generated by a mid- to upper-level trough and a shear axis a few hundred miles to the west of Nadine. As a result, the storm struggled to develop an eye and the center became more difficult to locate.
  Although the storm was disorganized, a scatterometer pass indicated tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 230 miles (370 km). The satellite appearance of Nadine became more ragged by September 14. Despite this, the storm remained just below hurricane status and the National Hurricane Center noted the possibility of intensification if wind shear decreased in the next few days. Nadine turned northward on September 14 as it tracked along the periphery of a subtropical ridge. Soon after, a Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) pass indicated that core convection began re-organizing. However, because wind shear displaced the mid-level circulation to the north of the low-level circulation, Nadine was not upgraded to a hurricane. Because Nadine would approach colder sea surface temperatures, significant strengthening was considered unlikely. Due to an increase in satellite intensity estimates and re-organization, Nadine was upgraded to a hurricane at 1800 UTC on September 14. Six hours later, Nadine reached an initial peak intensity with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). Satellite imagery indicated that a ragged eye feature was attempting to develop late on September 15.
caption: Hurricane Nadine at its initial peak intensity on September 15
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