Erika may have been a hurricane

[OtherHD]

Interesting excerpt from the latest discussion...

"THERE ARE SOME INDICATIONS THAT ERIKA MAY HAVE BRIEFLY REACHED HURRICANE STATUS AT LANDFALL. T-NUMBERS FROM TAFB...SAB AND KGWC WERE ON THE RANGE OF 4.0 AND 4.5 ON THE DVORAK SCALE. IN ADDITION...HIGH RESOLUTION DOPPLER WIND DATA FROM BROWNSVILLE REPORTED PEAK WINDS OF 91 KNOTS AT 2500 FEET WITHIN A SMALL AREA TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THE CENTER ALONG THE COAST OF MEXICO. THIS CORRESPONDS TO AT LEAST 65 KNOTS AT THE SURFACE. THIS IS ALSO SUPPORTED BY THE 987 MB MINIMUM PRESSURE AND THE CLOSED EYEWALL REPORTED BY THE RECON."

[wxman57]

I definitely believe that Erika was a hurricane with 80-90 mph sustained wind at landfall. All the evidence says so. Recon didn't have any surface obs available. I think that the data arrived at the NHC just as the center was moving inland (into MEXICO) and the NHC figured it was already moving inland so why bother with an upgrade then. The people in its path wouldn't get the upgrade info, most likely. But 91 kts at 2500 ft would reduce down to about 70-75 kts at the surface. The 987 mb pressure is way low enough, considering the high pressure environment that the storm was in. There was an eye forming - it almost began to open up on satellite. Definitely a hurricane.

I believe Erika will get a post-storm upgrade at some point.