Hurricane Ophelia (East)

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Hurricane Ophelia was a long lived deadly hurricane that struck the Lesser Antilles, Caribbena, and the continental United States in September of 2023. It was the sixteenth depression, fifteenth storm, thirteenth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane in the hyperactive 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. It currently is the deadliest hurricane in the 2023 season, as well as the costliest hurricane and the second strongest hurricane by pressure in the Atlantic basin.

Meterological History
On September 6, a tropical wave was developed off the coast of Africa, gradually moving towards the Lesser Antilles. On September 8th, the wave was declared to have a 90% chance of forming into a cyclone, which it formed into and and the NHC declared it the sixteenth depression of the season. After travelling into waters with favorable sea temperatures and atmospheric conditions, Sixteen then developed into Tropical Storm Ophelia the next day, becoming the fifteenth tropical storm.

On September 9, Ophelia began to rapidly intensifiy, entering watersrs as warm as 86 degrees Farenheit (30 degrees Celsius) as well as atmospheric conditions fueled moisture inside the core, building storm cells and creating awell defined eyewall, as well as a wide eye. Airplanes detected gale-force winds and the storm became the thirteenth hurricane with The storm then strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane with wind speeds of 110mph (177km/h). Ophelia then gradually moved towards the Leeward Islands.

On September 10 at 04:00 UTC (storm name) entered abnormally hot waters in the Caribbean and strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 108 knots (125 mph metric later). The hurricane then moved on to make continuous landfalls in the Leeward Islands: Antigua and Barbuda at 05:30 UTC, St. Kitts and Nevis at 07:00 UTC, and the Virgin Islands at 09:00 UTC. After exiting the Virgin Islands, (storm name) strengthened into a Category 4 major hurricane, greatly threatening Puerto Rico. At 12:00 UTC, (storm name) made landfall in southern Puerto Rico. Ophelia continued on its path of destruction and impacted the Dominican Republic at 15:00 UTC. Two hours later at 17:00 UTC, Ophelia crosses into Haiti, and impacted the southern half of the country.

After leaving Haiti, Ophelia re-entered the Caribbean Sea. Record temperatures of (record tempreature) along with never before seen low wind shear and atmospheric conditions caused Ophelia to grow to a monster Category 5 hurricane with winds of 175 mph (knots later) and a minimal pressure of 890 mbar. Over the next few hours, Ophelia would keep strengthening until landfall in Southern Cuba at 04:00 UTC. The storm would ravage southern Cuba for the next two hours until the storm re-entered the Caribbean Sea. Ophelia than strengthened again, this time hitting peak intensity with winds of 195mph (knots later) and a minimal pressure of 887 mbar on at 08:30 UTC. Half an hour later, Ophelia would make landfall on the Isle of Youth at near peak intensity. After an hour, the storm turned to the north and made landfall with the Cuban island again at 10:00 UTC.

At 12:00 UTC, Ophelia left the Cuban island and went through an eyewall replacement cycle, weakening it to a Category 4 hurricane as it travelled towards the Florida panhandle. Ophelia would temporarily regain Category 5 strength but immediately weaken back to Category 4 strength a few hours later. On September 13 at 06:00 UTC Ophelia weakened to a Category 3 hurricane with windspead of 120mph. Over the next few hours, the storm would continue its path towards Florida until landfall near Pensicola at 18:00 UTC as a weakening Category 3 hurricane. In two hours, Ophelia would cross into Alabama and here the storm would start rapidly weakening. On September 14 Ophelia weakened back into Category 1 hurricane strength before turning towards the Appalachian Mountains. At 13:00 UTC the storm started slowing even more and weakened into tropical storm status. The next day the storm weakened into a depression and at 09:00 UTC Ophelia dissipated and its remains were absorbed into another extratropical storm near Roanoke, Virginia.