Hurricane Danny (2015)

Hurricane Danny

Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Danny rapidly intensifying on August 20, as seen from the International Space Station
Formed	August 18, 2015
Dissipated	August 24, 2015
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 125 mph (205 km/h)
Lowest pressure	960 mbar (hPa); 28.35 inHg
Fatalities	None reported
Damage	Minimal
Areas affected	Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico
Part of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Danny in August 2015 was the first major hurricane to develop between the Lesser Antilles and Western Africa since Hurricane Julia in 2010. The hurricane originated from a well-defined tropical wave that emerged over the Atlantic Ocean on August 14. Traveling west, the system gradually coalesced into a tropical depression by August 18. After becoming a tropical storm later that day, dry air slowed further development. On August 20–21, dry air became removed from the system, and Danny rapidly intensified into a Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Its peak was short-lived as wind shear soon increased and prompted significant weakening. Degrading to a tropical storm by August 23, Danny approached the Lesser Antilles. It degenerated into a tropical wave as it traversed the archipelago on August 24 and was last noted over Hispaniola the following day.

The hurricane prompted the issuance of several tropical storm warnings for the Lesser Antilles. Leeward Islands Air Transport cancelled 40 flights and sandbags were distributed in the United States Virgin Islands. Danny ultimately only brought light rain to the region, with its effects considered beneficial due to a severe drought.

On August 14, 2015, a well-defined tropical wave, accompanied by significant surface pressure falls, traversed Western Africa and emerged over the Atlantic Ocean that evening. A broad surface low developed along the wave on August 15. Embedded within monsoon flow, various environmental factors enabled gradual development of the disturbance, including low wind shear, above-average sea surface temperatures, moderate moisture content, and favorable diffluence. A subtropical ridge to the north steered the system generally west-northwest throughout its entire existence. On August 17, the surface low became increasingly defined and convection more persistent. It subsequently acquired enough organization to be classified a tropical depression—the fourth of the 2015 season—at 06:00 UTC on August 18. At this time, it was situated about 825 mi (1,325 km) west-southwest of Praia, Cape Verde.