Tropical Storm ELENA - South Florida & Florida Keys - August 28-29, 1985

A well-organized tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa and was first identified on satellite imagery north of the Cape Verde islands on August 23, 1985. An unusually fast westward motion near 35mph (30kts), combined with a dry Saharan Air Layer inhibited development of the system until it approached Cuba on the evening of August 27th.

The system's forward motion slowed as it approached the western edge of a strong ridge that had been building westward across the Atlantic to the north of the disturbance. A tropical depression formed on August 28th as the system moved over the Windward Passage (between Haiti and Cuba).

With an increasingly favorable environment, the tropical depression strengthend and was designated Tropical Storm Elena while moving over (and parallel to) the north coast of central Cuba late on August 28th. At this time reconnaissance aircraft measured winds of 50-60mph (45-50kts) across the Florida Straits to the north of the storm's center.

It is interesting to note that the central pressure dropped 9mb while the center of Elena was still inland over central Cuba.

After moving into the Gulf of Mexico north of Havana, Cuba Elena quickly intensified and reached hurricane strength on the morning of August 29th.

From August 28th through 29th, storm chasers Michael Laca and Jim Leonard intercepted Tropical Storm Elena in southern Miami-Dade county and in the Florida Keys, including Key West. During this time Elena brought minimal tropical storm conditions to the lower Florida Keys with peak winds between 40-50mph (35-45kts). Key West measured just under 2 inches of rain during the storm's passage. Minimal storm surge flooding was observed along south-facing coastal locations in the lower Keys on the morning of August 29th.

After entering the Gulf of Mexico, steering currents collapsed and, over the next several days, Hurricane Elena began a slow and highly erratic motion over the northern Gulf. Elena eventually reached category three strength with sustained winds of 125mph (110kts) before finally moving onshore near Biloxi, Mississippi on the morning of September 2nd.

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