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Timeline of the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1997 Atlantic hurricane season consisted of the events that occurred in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation over the Atlantic Ocean north of the equator. The official bounds of each Atlantic hurricane season are dates that conventionally delineate the period each year during which tropical cyclones tend to form in the basin according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), beginning on June 1 and ending on November 30. However, tropical cyclogenesis is possible at any time of the year. The first system was a subtropical storm that formed on June 1; the final system, Tropical Storm Grace, dissipated on October 17.

Though below average overall, the 1997 season had an unusually busy start. Through the end of July, six tropical or subtropical depressions developed, of which five became named storms and two strengthened further into hurricanes. At the time, Hurricane Danny was the earliest-forming fifth-named storm in the Atlantic basin. After Danny dissipated, the season was exceptionally quiet. There was no tropical cyclone activity for the entire month of August, typically one of the basin's peak months; this was the first time since 1961, and did not happen again until 2022. Only three more systems formed for the remainder of the season: Hurricane Erika in September, which was the only Atlantic major hurricane in 1997; and two weak tropical storms in October.

This timeline documents tropical cyclone formations, strengthening, weakening, landfalls, extratropical transitions, and dissipations during the season. It includes information that was not released throughout the season, meaning that data from post-storm reviews by the National Hurricane Center, such as a storm that was not initially warned upon, has been included.

The time stamp for each event is first stated using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the 24-hour clock where 00:00 = midnight UTC. The NHC uses both UTC and the time zone where the center of the tropical cyclone is currently located. The time zones utilized (east to west) prior to 2020 were: Atlantic, Eastern, and Central. In this timeline, the respective area time is included in parentheses. Additionally, figures for maximum sustained winds and position estimates are rounded to the nearest 5 units (miles, or kilometers), following National Hurricane Center practice. Direct wind observations are rounded to the nearest whole number. Atmospheric pressures are listed to the nearest millibar and nearest hundredth of an inch of mercury.

Timeline of events

June

June 1

  • The 1997 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins.
  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) at A subtropical depression forms from an area of low pressure off the Atlantic coast of the Southeastern United States.
  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) at The recently formed subtropical depression strengthens into a subtropical storm while moving north-northeastward and attains a minimum central pressure of .
  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. EDT) at The subtropical storm reaches maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 km/h) off the coast of North Carolina.

June 2

June 30

  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT) at A tropical depression forms from an area of low pressure off the coast of South Carolina.

July

July 1

  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) at The recently formed tropical depression strengthens into Tropical Storm Ana while moving eastward.

July 2

  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT, July 1) at Tropical Storm Ana reaches its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of , about midway between South Carolina and Bermuda.

July 3

  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Ana weakens into a tropical depression about north-northwest of Bermuda.

July 4

  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Depression Ana transitions into an extratropical cyclone about north of Bermuda and later dissipates.

July 11

  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at A tropical depression forms from an area of low pressure about west-southwest of Bermuda.
  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) at The recently formed tropical depression strengthens into Tropical Storm Bill about west of Bermuda.

July 12

  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Bill strengthens into a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale about north-northeast of Bermuda.
  • 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. AST) at Hurricane Bill reaches its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of , about north-northeast of Bermuda.

July 13

  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST, July 12) at Hurricane Bill weakens into a tropical storm well south of Newfoundland.
  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Bill is absorbed by a cold front just south of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland.
  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. EDT) at The same cold front spawns a tropical depression about south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. EDT) at The recently formed tropical depression strengthens into Tropical Storm Claudette about south-southeast of Cape Hatteras.

July 14

  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. EDT, July 13) at Tropical Storm Claudette reaches its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of , about southeast of Cape Hatteras.

July 16

  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST, July 15) at Tropical Storm Claudette weakens into a tropical depression about north of Bermuda.
  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Depression Claudette restrengthens into a tropical storm about north-northeast of Bermuda.
  • 12:00 UTC (7:00 a.m. CDT) at Tropical Depression Four forms from an area of low pressure about south of the southwestern Louisiana coast.
  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Claudette weakens below gale force and transitions into an extratropical cyclone about east-northeast of Bermuda; it is absorbed by a cold front shortly thereafter.

July 17

  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Depression Five forms from a tropical wave about east of Barbados.
  • 12:00 UTC (7:00 a.m. CDT) at Tropical Depression Four strengthens into Tropical Storm Danny about southwest of the Mississippi River Delta.
  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Depression Five reaches its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of , about east of Barbados.

July 18

  • 06:00 UTC (1:00 a.m. CDT) at Tropical Storm Danny strengthens into a Category 1 hurricane about southwest of the Mississippi River Delta.
  • 09:00 UTC (4:00 a.m. CDT) at Hurricane Danny makes its first landfall near Empire, Louisiana, with sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and a central pressure of . It then emerges back over the Gulf of Mexico.

July 19

  • 00:00 UTC (7:00 p.m. CDT, July 18) at Hurricane Danny reaches its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of , about southwest of Fort Morgan, Alabama.
  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST, July 18) at Tropical Depression Five is last noted as a tropical cyclone about north-northwest of Barbados; it dissipates shortly thereafter.
  • 10:00 UTC (5:00 a.m. CDT) at Hurricane Danny makes its second landfall near Fort Morgan at peak intensity, and subsequently emerges over Mobile Bay.
  • 18:00 UTC (1:00 p.m. CDT) at Hurricane Danny makes its third and final landfall near Mullet Point, Alabama, with sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and a central pressure of .

July 20

  • 00:00 UTC (7:00 p.m. CDT, July 19) at Hurricane Danny weakens into a tropical storm inland, about east-southeast of Mullet Point.
  • 18:00 UTC (1:00 p.m. CDT) at Tropical Storm Danny weakens into a tropical depression inland, about northeast of Mullet Point. It proceeds to move slowly and erratically northward for the next two days, after which it turns to the east while located over northeastern Alabama and Georgia.

July 24

  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. EDT) at Tropical Depression Danny restrengthens into a tropical storm inland, near the border between North Carolina and Virginia; it emerges over the Atlantic Ocean roughly one hour later.

July 25

  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Danny reaches its secondary peak intensity, with sustained winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) and a central pressure of , about south-southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

July 26

  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Danny transitions into an extratropical cyclone about east-southeast of Nantucket, and subsequently dissipates.

August

  • There were no tropical cyclones in August.

September

September 3

  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at A tropical depression forms from a tropical wave about east of the Lesser Antilles.
  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) at The recently formed tropical depression strengthens into Tropical Storm Erika about east of the Lesser Antilles.

September 4

  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Erika strengthens into a Category 1 hurricane about east of the Lesser Antilles.

September 7

September 8

  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at Hurricane Erika strengthens to Category 3 intensity about north-northeast of Saint Thomas, making it the only major hurricane of the season.

September 9

  • 06:00 UTC (2:00 a.m. AST) at Hurricane Erika reaches its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of , about north-northeast of Saint Thomas.

September 10

  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) at Hurricane Erika weakens to Category 2 intensity about east of Bermuda.

September 11

  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST, September 10) at Hurricane Erika weakens to Category 1 intensity about east-northeast of Bermuda.

September 12

  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST, September 11) at Hurricane Erika weakens into a tropical storm about east-northeast of Bermuda.

September 16

  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST, September 15) at Tropical Storm Erika transitions into an extratropical cyclone about north-northwest of Lajes Air Base in the Azores, and subsequently dissipates about southwest of Ireland.

October

October 4

  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) at A tropical depression forms from an area of low pressure about north of the Virgin Islands.

October 5

  • 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. AST) at The recently formed tropical depression strengthens into Tropical Storm Fabian about north of the Virgin Islands.

October 7

  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Fabian reaches its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of , about northeast of the Virgin Islands.

October 8

  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Fabian transitions into an extratropical cyclone about northeast of the Virgin Islands, and subsequently dissipates.

October 16

  • 00:00 UTC (8:00 p.m. AST, October 15) at Tropical Storm Grace forms from an extratropical cyclone about north of the Virgin Islands. It is already at its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of .

October 17

  • 12:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. AST) at Tropical Storm Grace weakens below gale force, transitions back into an extratropical cyclone about east-northeast of the Virgin Islands, and subsequently dissipates.

November

  • There were no tropical cyclones in November.

November 30

  • The 1997 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends.

Notes

See also

References

External links