Hurricane Eloise - September 14-27, 1975
A distubance moved off the west coast of Africa on September 6th with a
notable cyclonic circulation.
The system moved west at 15 mph across the tropical Atlantic over the
following six days. Slow organization
ensued, and ship reports early on the 13th confirmed the presence of a
tropical depression roughly 500 miles
east of the Lesser Antilles. Slow intensification continued since
its upper anticyclone was not well-defined,
Eloise became a tropical storm early on the 16th. Soon
afterwards, upper level conditions became ideal and
Eloise rapidly developed into a hurricane before striking the northeast
Dominican Republic late that day.
Below is the storm total rainfall graphic for Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands, using data provided
by the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina.
The system moved across northern Hispaniola, across southern Cuba, and
then into the northwest Caribbean
Sea by the 19th as a weak tropical storm. The circulation slowly
reorganized from its encounter with high
terrain in the Greater Antilles. As the cyclone moved through the
Yucatan channel, Eloise strengthened.
It regained hurricane force on the 22nd by the time it reached the
central Gulf of Mexico about 300 miles
south of New Orleans.
Strengthening continued until landfall midway between Fort Walton Beach
and Panama City at 8 a.m.
on the 23rd. As it moved inland and encountered cooler and drier
air, the storm weakened, becoming
a tropical storm around noon and a tropical depression that
evening. By the morning of the 24th, the
cyclone has become a frontal wave as it moved into the southwest tip of
Virginia. A deep cyclone
formed to its west, which led to substantial rains ahead of the weak
frontal wave formerly associated
with Eloise. By the morning of the 27th, this low had moved into
Atlantic Canada.
The graphics below show the storm total
rainfall for both Eloise and its remnant frontal wave,
using data provided by the National
Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina.