Hurricane Cindy - July 2005
On July 3rd, Cindy formed in the extreme western Caribbean Sea and moved northwest across the Yucatan Peninsula and into the south central Gulf of Mexico on the 4th of July. The warm Gulf of Mexico waters allowed Cindy to strengthen from a tropical depression into a tropical storm by the 5th of July. Cindy continued to slowly intensify into a hurricane before making landfall on July 6th near Grand Isle in southeast Louisiana.
As Cindy weakened, it curved to the northeast and moved across southern Mississippi and southern Alabama. The weakening center of the storm tracked across Stone and Greene Counties in southern Mississippi and into Washington and Clarke Counties in Alabama before dissipating. This turn to the northeast resulted in heavy rainfall across our forecast area as denoted in the WPC rainfall graphic to the right. In total, 5-9 inches of rain fell across the region which resulted in major flash flooding across Mobile and Washington Counties in southwest Alabama and George County in southeast Mississippi.
Most of the widespread and significant damage that occurred across the area was caused by tidal flooding along the immediate coast and by flash flooding inland. The highest rainfall measurements across southwest Alabama (observations greater than 5 inches) were St. Elmo with 9.06 inches, 3 miles south of the Mobile Regional Airport with 7.24 inches, Coden with 6.40 inches and the Mobile Regional Airport with 6.34 inches. Major flash flooding occurred across Mobile and Baldwin Counties in southwest Alabama and in George County in southeast Mississippi. Reports of minor flash flooding occurred in Washington, Clarke and Monroe Counties in southwest Alabama and in Greene County in southeast Mississippi. The flash flooding over interior sections caused minor flooding on many roads.
Minor to moderate beach erosion due to storm surge occurred from Dauphin Island in Alabama eastward to Destin in Florida. Some of the highest storm tides (storm surge + tide) across the area occurred at Fort Morgan with 7.11 feet, Point Cadet with 6.50 feet, Bayou La Batre with 6.45 feet and the Mobile State Docks with 5.31 feet. Some storm tide flooding occurred on Dauphin Island and along the beaches in Baldwin County. The west end of Dauphin Island and the Causeway over Mobile Bay were flooded by tidal piling and closed for several hours during Cindy.
Several weak F0 tornadoes occurred in Mobile, Washington, Clarke and Escambia Counties in Alabama and in Escambia County in Florida. These tornadoes resulted in some tree damage with some structural damage due to trees falling on houses.
Jump to - Post-Tropical Cyclone Report or Additional Information section.
POST-TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORT...TROPICAL STORM CINDY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
230 PM CDT THU JUL 7 2005
A. HIGHEST WINDS...
ALL WIND DATA OCCURRED ON JULY 6 2005...
ASOS STATIONS ONLY ENTERED IF WIND GUST 33 KNOTS OR HIGHER...
PENSACOLA AIRPORT (PNS)...
SUSTAINED WINDS 31 KNOTS FROM 160 DEGREES AT 1248 UTC
PEAK GUST 41 KNOTS FROM 200 DEGREES AT 1659 UTC
DESTIN (DTS)...
SUSTAINED WINDS 24 KNOTS FROM 140 DEGREES AT 751 UTC
PEAK GUST 34 KNOTS FROM 200 DEGREES AT 529 UTC
MOBILE AIRPORT (MOB)...
SUSTAINED WINDS 36 KNOTS FROM 150 DEGREES AT 1217 UTC
PEAK GUST 43 KNOTS FROM 190 DEGREES AT 1300 UTC
MOBILE BROOKLEY FIELD (BFM)...
SUSTAINED WINDS 25 KNOTS FROM 230 DEGREES AT 1556 UTC
PEAK GUST 35 KNOTS FROM 230 DEGREES AT 1556 UTC
MILITARY SITES...
HURLBURT AIR FORCE BASE (HRT)...
SUSTAINED WINDS 22 KNOTS FROM 150 DEGREES AT 1355 UTC
PEAK GUST 36 KNOTS FROM 180 DEGREES AT 1635 UTC
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE (VPS)...
SUSTAINED WINDS 25 KNOTS FROM 180 DEGREES AT 1553 UTC
PEAK GUST 38 KNOTS FROM 170 DEGREES AT 1523 UTC
PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION (NPA)...
SUSTAINED WINDS 29 KNOTS FROM 150 DEGREES AT 1109 UTC
PEAK GUST 44 KNOTS FROM 140 DEGREES AT 1131 UTC
BUOY DATA...
DAUPHIN ISLAND (DPIA1)...
SUSTAINED WINDS 46 KNOTS FROM 120 DEGREES AT 840 UTC
PEAK GUST 64 KNOTS FROM 130 DEGREES AT 1002 UTC
AWS STATIONS ONLY ENTERED IF GUST 33 KNOTS OR HIGHER...
DAUPHIN ISLAND USCG...
PEAK GUST 59 KNOTS FROM 160 DEGREES AT 1000 UTC
MOBILE (1 N OF MOB)...
PEAK GUST 39 KNOTS FROM 180 DEGREES AT 1236 UTC
LOXLEY ALABAMA...
PEAK GUST 36 KNOTS FROM 150 DEGREES AT 945 UTC
SHALIMAR FLORIDA...
PEAK GUST 34 KNOTS FROM 160 DEGREES AT 1431 UTC
GULF BREEZE FLORIDA...
PEAK GUST 39 KNOTS FROM 180 DEGREES AT 1258 UTC
PENSACOLA FLORIDA (WEAR)...
PEAK GUST 37 KNOTS FROM 110 DEGREES AT 1149 UTC
PENSACOLA (WEST FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL)...
PEAK GUST 47 KNOTS FROM 110 DEGREES AT 1145 UTC
AWIS STATIONS ONLY ENTERED IF GUST 33 KNOTS OR HIGHER...
GRAND BAY...
PEAK GUST 40 KNOTS FROM 170 DEGREES AT 1151 UTC
SEMMES...
PEAK GUST 36 KNOTS FROM 160 DEGREES AT 1213 UTC
B. LOWEST PRESSURE...
ALL OCCURRED ON JULY 6 2005...
MOBILE REGIONAL AIRPORT (MOB) - 1003.0 MB AT 1251 UTC
BROOKLEY FIELD (BFM) - 1005.0 MB AT 834 UTC
DAUPHIN ISLAND (DPIA1) - 1005.5 MB AT 1100 UTC
SEMMES - 1003.6 MB AT 1130 UTC
C. RAINFALL...
RAINFALL TOTALS ARE 24 HOUR TOTALS ENDING AT 1159 PM JULY
6 2005...
ASOS SITES...
MOBILE REGIONAL AIRPORT (MOB) 6.34 INCHES (6 HOUR TOTAL
6.06 INCHES ENDING AT 959 UTC)
NWS COOP SITES...
CODEN 6.40 INCHES
THOMASVILLE 3.45 INCHES
OTHER SITES...
3 SOUTH MOB 7.24 INCHES
SEMMES 5.60 INCHES
ST ELMO 9.06 INCHES
3 SOUTH MOB 7.02 INCHES
DEER PARK 5.00 INCHES
GULFCREST 6.00 INCHES
HOWELL MISSISSIPPI 5.70 INCHES
D. STORM TIDES...
HIGHEST TIDES OCCURRED ON JULY 6 2005.TIDES ARE GIVEN IN MSL...
PERDIDO PASS 2.56 AT 1215 UTC
PENSACOLA USCG 2.34 AT 1722 UTC
MOBILE STATE DOCKS 5.31 AT 1437 UTC
SANTA ROSA SOUND 1.79 AT 1944 UTC
DESTIN 2.18 AT 1547 UTC
CEDAR POINT 3.52 AT 1356 UTC
BAYOU LA BATRE 6.45 AT 1302 UTC
DAUPHIN ISLAND 2.59 AT 1658 UTC
MOBILE (MIDDLE BAY) 4.22 AT 1800 UTC
POINT CADET 6.50 AT 1041 UTC
FORT MORGAN 7.11 AT 1015 UTC
E. BEACH EROSION...MINOR TO MODERATE BEACH EROSION OCCURRED.
F. FLOODING...SOME STORM TIDE FLOODING OCCURRED ON DAUPHIN ISLAND AND THE
BEACHES OF BALDWIN COUNTY. SOME MINOR BEACH EROSION OCCURRED ON
PENSACOLA BEACH. MAJOR FLASH FLOODING OCCURRED IN MOBILE AND
WASHINGTON COUNTIES IN ALABAMA AND IN GEORGE COUNTY IN
MISSISSIPPI.
G. TORNADOES...SEVERAL WEAK TORNADOES OCCURRED IN MOBILE AND ESCAMBIA COUNTIES
IN ALABAMA. F0 WITH MOSTLY TREE DAMAGE...HOWEVER SOME OF THE
TREES FELL ON HOMES AND CAUSED DAMAGE.
H. STORM EFFECTS...PRELIMINARY DATA INDICATES THAT MOST OF THE DAMAGE THAT OCCURRED
ACROSS THE AREA WAS CAUSED BY TIDAL FLOODING ALONG THE IMMEDIATE
COAST AND FLASH FLOODING INLAND. THE WEST END OF DAUPHIN ISLAND
AND THE CAUSEWAY WERE FLOODED AND CLOSED FOR SEVERAL HOURS.BEELER/CULLEN
NHC Advisory Archive
WPC Archive
NHC Tropical Cyclone Report - Hurricane Cindy
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NWS New Orleans
NWS Birmingham
NWS Peachtree City, GA
Acknowledgements: Page created by Morgan Barry (forecaster).
LAST UPDATED: November 2016
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