Thread:Xtyphooncyclonex/@comment-11987506-20171010154517/@comment-25394636-20171012215136

The precursor of Hurricane Gwen was a tropical wave, located to the west-southwest of Cabo Verde, which was first discovered by the NHC on August 27. The wave struggled to develop for 2 days until stumbling upon anomalously warm sea surface temperatures northeast of the Caribbean Sea. As a result, the disturbance was upgraded to a tropical depression on August 29, prior to becoming designated as Tropical Storm Gwen exactly a day later. The storm generally tracked westerly in part of the presence of a subtropical ridge. Gwen steadily intensified, becoming a hurricane 12 hours later, whilst inching closer to the northernmost portions of the Lesser Antilles. But due to the cold wake left by previous major hurricanes, alongside dry air intrusion, Gwen fluctuated in intensity. However, the significant increase in Ocean Heat Content led to the storm rapidly intensifying, becoming a category 4 hurricane on September 4. Early on September 5, Gwen made landfall over Basseterre, Guadeloupe as a borderline category 5. The next day, Gwen became a high-end category 5 on its approach to Puerto Rico.