Preliminary Report
Tropical Storm Earl
26 September - 03 October 1992

1992 PRELIMINARY REPORTS

Hurricane Andrew (5)
Hurricane Bonnie (2)
Hurricane Charley (2)
Tropical Storm Danielle (TS)
Tropical Storm Earl (TS)
Hurricane Frances (1)

a. Synoptic History

A tropical wave exited the coast of Africa on 18 September and for several days moved westward through low latitudes accompanied by disorganized clousiness and showers. Once the wave approached the Lesser Antilles, it began to interact with a large and strong upper level trough which was partially related to the outflow from Danielle and Bonnie located at higher latitudes.

Due to the interaction with the upper trough, most of the convection associated with the wave shifted further to the north within a band along 62°W between 22°N and 28°N. The upper trough developed into a cut off low while moving southwestward toward central Cuba. This new pattern may have enhanced the upper-level divergence over the convection associated with the wave, resulting in the formation of a tropical depression about 360 nautical miles north of Hispaniola by 1800 UTC 26 September.

The weak depression moved rapidly on a west-northwest course toward the northern Bahamas, steered by the flow induced by the middle to upper-level low over Cuba. However, a cold front, sweeping across the eastern United States forced the depression to become nearly stationary over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream where the depression strengthened.

Data from a reconnaissance plane, buoys and ships indicate that the depression became Tropical Storm Earl at 1200 UTC 29 September. By then Earl was already moving eastward ahead of the cold front. The tropical storm was able to maintain its low-level circulation, staying detached from the frontal zone for several days, reaching its peak intensity of 63 mph and 990 mb at 0000 UTC 2 October.

Earl continued moving on a general east-southeast track, producing transient convection but maintaining a well-defined low level circulation as indicated by satellite images. Finally, the storm weakened to a tropical depression at 1200 UTC 3 October and lost its tropical characteristics later on that day. The remnants of Earl meandered over the Atlantic for a few more days until dissipation.

b. Meteorological Statistics

c. Casualty and Damage Statistics

There were no reports of casualties or damage associated with Earl.