Hurricane Earl (2016) (Sassmaster15)

Hurricane Earl was the worst tropical cyclone to strike the U.S. state of Texas since Hurricane Ike eight years earlier. The fifth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the annual hurricane season, Earl developed out of an initially poorly-developed tropical wave east of the Lesser Antilles. The wave drifted into the Caribbean, where record-warm sea-surface temperatures and low wind shear contributed to a very favorable environment conducive for tropical cyclogenesis. As the wave slowly consolidated, the tropical cyclone soon underwent rapid organization and was assigned the name ''Earl. ''Earl continued to strengthen at a modest pace as it tracked northwest towards the Yucatán Peninsula. Earl brushed Playa del Carmen with winds of 65 miles per hour, causing moderate damage. After briefly weakening, Earl entered the Gulf of Mexico.