MONTHLY TROPICAL WEATHER SUMMARY NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 800 AM EDT SAT SEP 1 2007 FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO... THREE TROPICAL CYCLONES FORMED IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN DURING AUGUST. TWO OF THESE CYCLONES BECAME NAMED STORMS DURING AUGUST...AND ONE OF THESE...DEAN...REACHED MAJOR HURRICANE STATUS. ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES WAS SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE FOR AUGUST...THE ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY (ACE) INDEX...A MEASURE OF THE STRENGTH AND DURATION OF NAMED STORMS AND HURRICANES...WAS SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE. DEAN...WHICH MADE LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON THE EAST COAST OF THE YUCATAN PENINSULA NEAR COSTA MAYA...MEXICO...FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE IN THE FAR EASTERN ATLANTIC ON 13 AUGUST. THE CYCLONE BECAME A TROPICAL STORM THE NEXT DAY ABOUT 1500 MILES EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES AND CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVED JUST NORTH OF DUE WEST. DEAN BECAME A HURRICANE ON 16 AUGUST ABOUT 500 MILES EAST OF BARBADOS...AND CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN AS IT MOVED CLOSER TO THE LESSER ANTILLES. THE CENTER OF DEAN PASSED BETWEEN ST. LUCIA AND MARTINIQUE DURING THE MORNING OF 17 AUGUST...WITH THE NORTHERN EYEWALL PASSING OVER MARTINIQUE WITH CATEGORY TWO SUSTAINED WINDS OF ABOUT 100 MPH. AFTER CLEARING THE LEEWARD ISLANDS...DEAN BECAME A MAJOR HURRICANE LATER THAT DAY...AND ITS WINDS REACHED 150 MPH EARLY THE NEXT DAY ABOUT 700 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF JAMAICA. CONTINUING ON A TRACK JUST NORTH OF WEST...THE CENTER OF DEAN PASSED ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF THE SOUTH COAST OF JAMAICA ON 19 AUGUST. AT THAT TIME DEAN WAS A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 145 MPH...ALTHOUGH THESE STRONGEST WINDS LIKELY REMAINED JUST OFFSHORE. DEANS HEADING REMAINED REMARKABLY CONSTANT AND IT CONTINUED OVER THE DEEP WARM WATERS OF THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN. DEAN BECAME A CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE VERY EARLY ON 21 AUGUST ABOUT 200 MILES EAST OF CHETUMAL MEXICO...AND REACHED ITS PEAK INTENSITY OF 165 MPH...WITH A MINIMUM PRESSURE OF 906 MB...JUST BEFORE LANDFALL NEAR COSTA MAYA ON THE YUCATAN PENINSULA. DEAN WEAKENED TO A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE DURING ITS TRAVERSE OF THE YUCATAN...AND EMERGED INTO THE BAY OF CAMPECHE LATE ON 21 AUGUST. DEAN STRENGTHENED TO A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE...WITH WINDS OF ABOUT 100 MPH...JUST BEFORE MAKING ITS FINAL LANDFALL NEAR MIDDAY ON 22 AUGUST ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTH OF TUXPAN MEXICO. THE CYCLONE DISSIPATED EARLY ON 23 AUGUST OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN OF CENTRAL MEXICO. PRELIMINARY REPORTS FROM VARIOUS MEDIA SOURCES INDICATE THAT DEAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ROUGHLY 40 DEATHS ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN...WITH THE LARGEST TOLLS IN MEXICO AND HAITI. OFFICIAL TOTALS ARE NOT YET AVAILABLE. ERIN FORMED IN ASSOCIATION WITH A TROPICAL WAVE EARLY ON 15 AUGUST OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO ABOUT 450 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF BROWNSVILLE TEXAS. MOVING NORTHWESTWARD...THE CYCLONE BECAME A TROPICAL STORM WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 40 MPH LATER THAT DAY WHILE CENTERED ABOUT 200 MILES EAST OF BROWNSVILLE...BUT ERIN DID NOT STRENGTHEN ANY FURTHER OVER THE GULF. THE CENTER OF CIRCULATION MADE LANDFALL NEAR LAMAR TEXAS ON THE MORNING OF 16 AUGUST...AND BY THAT TIME ERIN HAD WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 35 MPH. THE DEPRESSION CONTINUED NORTHWESTWARD AND INLAND DURING 16-17 AUGUST AND TURNED NORTHWARD OVER WEST TEXAS ON 18 AUGUST. SURVIVING REMARKABLY OVER LAND...THE CYCLONE ENTERED SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA VERY EARLY ON 19 AUGUST. WHILE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD OVER OKLAHOMA THAT MORNING...ERIN PRODUCED SUSTAINED WINDS OF TROPICAL STORM FORCE AND GUSTS TO HURRICANE FORCE IN ISOLATED LOCATIONS. POST-STORM ANALYSIS OF THIS UNUSUAL EVENT IS ONGOING TO DETERMINE THE STRENGTH AND STATUS OF ERIN OVER OKLAHOMA. THE CYCLONE DISSIPATED LATER ON 19 AUGUST OVER NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA...BUT REMNANT MOISTURE CONTINUED NORTHEASTWARD INTO MISSOURI. OVERALL...ERIN AND ITS REMNANTS BROUGHT HEAVY RAINS TO PORTIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN...SOUTH-CENTRAL...AND WESTERN TEXAS... OKLAHOMA...AND SOUTHERN MISSOURI. STORM-TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3-7 INCHES WERE COMMON IN MANY OF THESE AREAS...WITH SOME LOCATIONS RECEIVING MORE THAN 10 INCHES. FELIX FORMED FROM A TROPICAL WAVE ON 31 AUGUST ABOUT 200 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE WINDWARD ISLANDS AND MOVED WESTWARD ACROSS THE WINDWARD ISLANDS NEAR GRENADA. AT THE BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER...THE STORM WAS CENTERED ABOUT 75 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF GRENADA WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 45 MPH. FORECASTER FRANKLIN/KNABB/BLAKE