I've created a graphic diary documenting Hurricane Earl from generation on the morning of Wednesday, August 25, 2010, until its degeneration on the evening of Saturday, September 4, 2010.
In the effort of full disclosure and all that jazz, I posted this on my blog, The Rambling Weatherdude, at the same time I posted it here.
Tropical Depression Seven was born on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 11 AM in the Atlantic Ocean (up for speculation as we've yet to see a birth certificate, however), about 480 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. Six hours later, by the 5 PM advisory, the NHC upgraded TD 7 to Tropical Storm Earl.
Earl steadily strengthened over the next few days and became Hurricane Earl by Sunday, August 29 in an 830 AM update. By 5 PM that evening, Earl had 85 MPH winds and started to batter the northern Lesser Antilles with tropical storm and hurricane force winds.
Radar of Earl approaching Lesser Antilles (from METEO France)
By 2AM Monday, August 30, the center of Earl came very close to the island of Barbuda with 100 MPH winds.
At the 11 AM advisory that same day, Earl was upgraded to a Major Hurricane with 115 MPH winds, making it a Category 3. Throughout the day, Earl continued to strengthen and became a Category 4 hurricane with 135 MPH winds by the 5 PM advisory. The center of Earl pulled off to the northwest, sparing most of the Antilles from the worst of the winds.
Center of Earl as it passes Puerto Rico, around 9PM AST (from Wunderground)
At the 8 PM advisory on Tuesday, August 31, the coast of North Carolina was put under a Hurricane Watch for its anticipated close call later in the week.
Earl strengthened to a monster hurricane as it made its way towards the North Carolina coast, with 145 MPH winds at its strongest as of the 5 AM advisory on Thursday, September 2.
Earl before intensification, taken the evening of Wednesday, September 1 (from NHC)
Another image of Earl, from about 3 hours later, taken during intensification (from Wunderground)
Numerous watches and warnings were issued from Bogue Inlet, NC, up the US East coast into Canada, stretching as far north as the province of Prince Edward Island. As the storm's center passed Cape Hatteras, NC, on Friday, September 3, it produced 60-70 MPH winds (with a peak gust of 83 MPH at Oregon Inlet, NC), causing some flooding and sporadic damage.
Damage to a gas station canopy on the Outer Banks of NC (from WFMY News 2)
Hurricane Earl as it nears the Outer Banks of North Carolina (from Wunderground)
The storm continued up the East Coast, creating more localized flooding and damage through the day Friday. Earl was downgraded to a Tropical Storm at 11 PM that day, with 70 MPH winds.
Around 10 AM Saturday, August 4, the storm made its first landfall near Western Head, Nova Scotia, with a large swath of tropical storm force winds battering the island. Winds of 58 MPH with gusts to 68 MPH were reported at McNabbs Island, and Lunenburg, NS reported a 69 MPH gust around the same time.
Earl continued to race across Nova Scotia during the day Saturday, making another landfall on Prince Edward Island around 1 PM Atlantic Time. The storm produced 50-60 MPH winds across the island, and continued to spring northeastward into the Gulf of St. Lawrence at a forward speed of almost 40 MPH.
Earl making its second landfall on Prince Edward Island. Tropical Storm symbol added by me to clarify the center of the storm (from NHC)
The storm made a third landfall on the Magdelen Islands (part of Quebec) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence at 4:24 PM EDT with 70 MPH winds.
Earl making a third landfall on the Magdelen Islands. Tropical Storm symbol added by me to clarify the center of the storm. (from Wunderground)
After racing over the Magdelen Islands, Earl continued churning through the Gulf of St. Lawrence towards the Lower North Shore of Quebec. The storm lost some strength in the 8PM advisory on Saturday (65 MPH), but actually had a lower pressure that evening than when it made landfall in Nova Scotia 10 hours earlier (966 millibars at 8PM, compared to 973 millibars at landfall in Nova Scotia).
Tropical Storm Earl moving towards Quebec. Tropical Storm symbol added by me to clarify the center of the storm. (from Wunderground)
In the 11PM advisory on Saturday, September 4, the National Hurricane Center declared the storm post-tropical and discontinued advisories. The system made landfall on the Lower North Shore in Quebec around the same time the advisory was issued. The system had 65 MPH winds at its 4th landfall, and would go on to weaken further as it degenerated.
Final advisory/track from the NHC
Satellite at Tropical Storm Earl's Quebec landfall and degeneration. Tropical Storm symbol added by me to clarify center. (from Wunderground)
Wind swath history of Hurricane Earl from generation to degeneration (from NHC)
Incomplete radar history of Hurricane Earl (from Wunderground)
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*Earl track images obtained from the National Hurricane Center's graphics archive of Hurricane Earl.
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weatherdude's previous weather diaries:
-I'm Nervous (aka My Emergency Preparedness Rant)
-Keeping Track of the Storm: A Link Library
-Hurricanes 101: Preparedness Week
-Tornadoes 101
-Large Tornado Outbreak in Mississippi; Heavy Damage (from April 24, 2010...Yazoo City Tornado)