User:CobraStrike/Hurricane Michael (2018)

Hurricane Michael was the strongest tropical cyclone recorded in the Atlantic hurricane when measured by barometric pressure, with a record intensity of 880 mbar (hPa; 25.99 inHg) measured by aircraft reconnaissance at the storm's peak. Spending a prolonged period of time off of western Cuba, the storm was also the costliest hurricane in Cuban history, having caused an estimated US$10.2 billion in damage on the island nation. A slow moving hurricane throughout its existence, the tropical cyclone wreaked havoc across a sizeable extent of the western Atlantic from Northern South America to the Mid-Atlantic states, causing extensive damage and heavy casualties across its path. Damage was most significant in western Cuba and the Cayman Islands, though lesser effects were felt elsewhere.

Meteorological history
 The origins of Hurricane Michael can be traced back to a tropical wave that left the coast of Africa on September 12. Near Cape Verde, the wave developed vigorous convection and became well defined; consequently the system was assessed by the National Hurricane Center as having a moderate potential of tropical cyclogenesis. However, a surge of dry air from the Saharan Air Layer caused the thunderstorm activity to quickly diminish, and from then out the disturbance crossed the tropical Atlantic without much incidence. On September 20, the system crossed the Lesser Antilles and into the Caribbean Sea. Aided by an upper-level low over the Amazon Rainforest, convection once again blossomed as the storm moved near the ABC islands. On September 23, a broad area of low pressure developed in association with the tropical wave just off the coast of Venezuela. The low-pressure area quickly consolidated, and at 00:00 UTC on September 24, reconnaissance flights indicated that the disturbance had become sufficiently organized to be considered a tropical depression. At the time, the system was centered north of Barranquilla, Colombia.