Hurricane Ophelia (2023)

Hurricane Ophelia was an extremely powerful and most intense hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. Ophelia was the 15th named storm of the 2023 hurricane season, the ninth hurricane of the season, and the fifth major hurricane of the 2023 hurricane season. Ophelia made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 4 storm as well as Mexico as a Category 4. Hurricane Ophelia is now one of the costliest hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean causing about $60 billion in damages and is one of the deadliest storms killing about 934 people.

Meteorological History
On September 10 a tropical exited the coast of Africa into the open Atlantic. The area of low pressure developed slowly and on September 16 it developed into eighteen. Eighteen was a very organized system and approximately 14 hours later it upgraded to Tropical Storm Ophelia. At this time Ophelia became the 15th named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, Ophelia had a pressure of 994 mb at this time. During this time Ophelia went through rapid intensification and the next day Ophelia was a strong category 1 storm becoming the ninth hurricane of the season. In just a mere 20 hours Ophelia became the fifth major hurricane of the season. At around 20:00 UTC Ophelia became a category 4 with winds up to 130 mph and a pressure of 942 mb. Then on September 21, Ophelia became a category 5. During this time Ophelia went through an eye wall replacement cycle, cycling between category 5 and category 4. At 2:50 UTC Ophelia reached peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph and a low pressure of 922 mb. Ophelia weakened before making landfall near Kingston, Jamaica as a strong category 4 with winds of 155 mph. Hurricane Ophelia caused catastrophic damage in Jamaica causing $51.88 billion in damages and killed 863 people. Ophelia became the costliest hurricane and natural disaster in Jamaican history. Ophelia weakened to a category 3 after impacting Jamaica and went into colder waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Ophelia went into a category 2 but then restrengthened to a category 3 hurricane as it went into warmer water near the Bay of Campeche. On September 26, Ophelia made its second landfall near Ciudad Madero, Mexico as a minor category 4 hurricane. Hurricane Ophelia majorly damage Tampico, Mexico, causing $8.37 billion in damages and killed 71 people. Due to the rough and mountainous terrain of Mexico, Ophelia dissipated on September 28, 2018.

Retirement
On April 19, 2019 the WMO retired Ophelia form its naming list. It will be replaced by Oprah for the 2029 Atlantic Hurricane Season.