Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean

Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Dean approaching the Yucatán Peninsula
Formed	August 13, 2007
Dissipated	August 23, 2007
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 175 mph (280 km/h)
Lowest pressure	905 mbar (hPa); 26.72 inHg
Fatalities	32 direct, 12 indirect
Damage	$1.5 billion (2007 USD)
Areas affected	Windward Islands (especially St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica), Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua
Part of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season
Part of a series on Hurricane Dean
*Commons: Dean images Wikinews: Dean stories

Hurricane Dean was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. It was also the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma of 2005. Also, it made the third strongest Atlantic hurricane landfall. Dean moved west-northwest from the eastern Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lucia Channel and into the Caribbean Sea. It became into a very strong hurricane, reaching Category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale before moving south of Jamaica on August 20. The storm moved onto land on the Yucatán Peninsula on August 21 as a Category 5 storm. It moved across the peninsula and entered the Bay of Campeche, as a weakened storm, but still a hurricane. It strengthened for a short time before making a second landfall in Veracruz near Tecolutla, Mexico, on August 22. Dean slowly moved to the northwest, weakening into a low pressure area which dissipated over the southwestern United States.^[1]

The hurricane's strong winds, waves, rains and storm surge caused over 45 deaths across ten countries and caused estimated damages of US$1.5 billion. First impacting the islands of the Lesser Antilles, Dean's path through the Caribbean severely damaged agricultural crops, especially those of Martinique and Jamaica. When it reached Mexico, Hurricane Dean was a Category 5 storm, but it missed large cities and its exceptional Category 5 strength landfall caused no deaths and less damage than in the Caribbean islands it passed as a Category 2 storm.^[1] Because of the damage, the name Dean was retired, and will not be used again for a tropical cyclone.

• 2007 Atlantic hurricane season
• Tropical cyclone

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