Preliminary Report
Tropical Storm Cindy
14 - 17 August 1993

1993 PRELIMINARY REPORTS

Tropical Storm Arlene (TS)
Tropical Storm Bret (TS)
Tropical Storm Cindy (TS)
Tropical Storm Dennis (TS)
Hurricane Emily (3)
Hurricane Floyd (1)
Hurricane Gert (2)
Hurricane Harvey (1)

a. Synoptic History

Cindy formed from a tropical wave that moved off the northwest coast of Africa on 8 August. The cloud mass associated with this wave was easily tracked on satellite imagery as it moved west-northwestward between 17 and 23 mph across the tropical Atlantic for the next several days. Dvorak classifications began on 10 August but remained at the T1.0 or T1.5 level until the 14th. An Air Force Reserve Unit aircraft investigated the disturbance on 13 August but found no organized surface circulation. On the next day, another aircraft found that the low-level circulation had become better organized and the "best track" indicates that a tropical depression formed from this activity at 1200 UTC on 14 August.

The tropical depression moved toward the west-northwest, steered by the low- to mid-level flow, and its forward motion slowed to between 12 and 17 mph. The depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Cindy at 1800 UTC on the 14th while over the island of Martinique, based on 1500-foot flight-level winds of near 46 mph from an aircraft and the observation of a central dense overcast in satellite imagery. Although the system had an outflow pattern aloft when it was near the Lesser Antilles, this upper-level structure deteriorated and only a little additional strengthening occurred.

Cindy reached its estimated peak intensity of 46 mph at 1200 UTC on 16 August while centered about 75 nautical miles southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The lowest pressure reported by reconnaissance aircraft was 1007 mb at 1113 UTC. A relatively large area of 40 to near 58 mph winds was also reported from the aircraft at a flight level of 1500 feet near this time.

The tropical cyclone weakened when part of the circulation began interacting with the mountains of Hispaniola. Cindy was downgraded to a tropical depression at 2100 UTC on the 16th when the poorly defined center moved over Barahona, Dominican Republic. The circulation rapidly became disorganized and the depression dissipated by 0000 UTC on 17 August. However, the remnant cloudiness and showers spread over the southern Bahamas through the 18th.

b. Meteorological Statistics

No sustained tropical storm force winds were reported from ships or island stations, but gusts to near 40 mph were reported on Martinique. Gusts to 35 mph were observated at St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islandsand at Aquadilla, Puerto Rico.

1. Rainfall Data

The largest reported storm total rainfall was 12 inches at Precheur on the island of Martinique. Several reports of 4 to 10 inches of rain were received from various locations in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere over Martinique, while 3 to 4 inches of rain were reported over portions of Pueerto Rico. It is likely that locally heavy rains occurred elsewhere over some of the Lesser Antilles and over Haiti.

c. Casualty and Damage Statistics

There were 4 deaths attributed to Cindy; 2 in Martinique and 2 in Dominican Republic.

Four deaths were reported in association with flooding produced by Cindy. Two of these deaths occurred in Martinique, and two occurred in the Dominican Republic. Two persons were also reported missing in the Dominican Republic. Several Hundred people were evacuated from flood-prone areas in Puerto Rico but no storm related deaths were reported from this island.

Estimates of several millions dollars in damage to private and public property including houses, roads and seawalls have been reported from Martinique. There have been no other reports of significant damage received at the National Hurricane Center related to Cindy.