Hurricane Cindy (2005)

Hurricane Cindy was a tropical cyclone that briefly reached minimal hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico during July in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and made landfall in Louisiana. It was the third named storm and first hurricane of the season. Cindy was originally thought to have been a tropical storm at peak strength, but was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane in the post-season analysis. Cindy formed on July 3 just east of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea. The depression soon made landfall on the peninsula and weakened before reemerging in the Gulf of Mexico on July 4. The storm strengthened as it moved north becoming a hurricane just before making landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana, on July 5. The storm weakened as it moved overland and became extratropical on July 7.

The storm was responsible for 3 deaths in the United States and brought heavy rains to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Maryland. An unusually strong F2 tornado was spawned from Cindy's remnants and caused severe damage in Hampton, Georgia. Cindy also caused flooding and a severe blackout in New Orleans, Louisiana. The cost was about US$320 million.

Meteorological history
The origins of Hurricane Cindy were from a tropical wave that exited the west coast of Africa on June 24. The wave moved quickly westward across the Atlantic without much development until June 28. On that day, an area of convection, or thunderstorms, formed near the Lesser Antilles. The wave continued westward across the Caribbean, and was first included in the Tropical Weather Outlook (TWO) by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on June 30. A day later, the convection became more concentrated to the southeast of Jamaica, which gradually became more organized. Late on July 3, the system developed into Tropical Depression Three about 80 mi (130 km) east of Mexico's Yucatán peninsula. Steered by a ridge to its north, the depression continued west-northwestward and moved ashore near Mahahual early on July 4. Once over land, the circulation became elongated, with a secondary circulation forming along the northern coast of the Yucatán. At that time, tropical cyclone forecast models had conflicting predictions for the system. Some anticipated little to no development, resulting in a weaker system moving toward northeastern Mexico or southern Texas. Other computer models anticipated a strengthening storm that would turn to the north toward Louisiana. The depression emerged into the Gulf of Mexico late on July 4, where the thunderstorms organized into rainbands and an outflow pattern. On July 5, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Cindy, as the circulation became better defined.

By the time Cindy became a tropical storm, it was moving northward toward southern Louisiana, steered by a mid-level trough moving through the southeastern United States. Due to an anticipated reduction in wind shear, the NHC forecast that Cindy would intensify to an estimated peak intensity of 50 mph (85 km/h). However, Cindy would intensify more than expected as it turned northeastward. Although its structure was asymmetrical at first, the storm's organized into an eye feature as the winds increased. Early on July 6, Cindy attained hurricane status just offshore Louisiana. Around 03:00 UTC that day it made landfall in southeastern Louisiana near Grand Isle. Operationally, the NHC assessed Cindy moved ashore as a strong tropical storm, although the agency upgraded it after the season due to reanalysis of radar-derived winds. The hurricane weakened to tropical storm status over land, and at 09:00 UTC that day, Cindy made its final landfall near Waveland, Mississippi with 50 mph (85 km/h) winds. It quickly weakened into a tropical depression, and Cindy merged with a stationary front on July 7, becoming an extratropical cyclone. The remnants continued northeastward across the southeastern United States, emerging into the western Atlantic on July 8 off the mid-Atlantic coast. The extratropical storm restrengthened slightly, passing near Nantucket before moving ashore Maine on July 9. After moving over Atlantic Canada, the remnants of Cindy dissipated over the Gulf of St. Lawrence on July 11.

Preparations
Upon Cindy's formation as a tropical depression, the government of Mexico issued a tropical storm warning from Punta Allen to Chetumal. The NHC issued tropical storm warnings for the northern gulf coast between Intracoastal City, Louisiana and Destin, Florida, but no hurricane warnings.

The National Hurricane Center issued a Tropical Storm Warning from Morgan City, Louisiana to Destin, Florida, and both tourists and residents evacuated the Louisiana and Florida coasts. Workers were evacuated from six oil rigs in the storm's path, and 23 coastal refineries stopped unloading oil as Cindy's approach made such activities dangerous. Numerous flights in and out of New Orleans were cancelled and Amtrak suspended passenger rail service until after the storm passed. Recreational vehicles were told to leave Grand Isle in case a full-scale evacuation was needed. In Mississippi, jail inmates filled sandbags which would be distributed to flood prone areas throughout the state.

Impact
In its formative stages, Cindy produced heavy rainfall across the Yucatán peninsula, with a peak 24 hour rainfall total of 71 mm recorded in Cancún. However, the effects were greatest in the United States, where Cindy's damage was estimated at US$320 million. As it moved ashore, the hurricane affected the coastal areas of the northern Gulf of Mexico with a storm surge, or rise in water, with a maximum reading of 6.20 ft recorded at Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and a maximum tidal reading of 7.1 ft recorded at Fort Morgan, Alabama. New Orlean's Lakefront Airport recorded gale-force winds for five and a half hours, with a maximum gust of 70 mph (113 km/h). Cindy produced rainfall from Louisiana to as far northeast as Maine. The heaviest rainfall occurred in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, which recorded a total of 9.50 in. Three deaths were attributed to Cindy, all related to vehicles – a driver in Peachtree City drowned in a ditch, and two people died in Maryland from a car crash.

Across the southeastern United States, Cindy's strong winds knocked down trees and power lines, affecting about 278,000 people across New Orleans, as well as 35,000 residences in Alabama and 7,000 in both Florida and Mississippi were left without power following the storm. The storm's high tides caused some beach erosion near Grand Isle, Louisiana. In New Orleans, Louisiana, scattered street flooding was reported. As thousands lost electrical power, the city experienced its worst blackout since Hurricane Betsy 40 years earlier. Although still listed as a "Tropical Storm" by the weather service at the time, many laypeople in New Orleans were under the impression that Cindy was a hurricane, and referred to it as "Hurricane Cindy" before it was officially upgraded. Many people in the New Orleans metropolitan area expected minimal effects from the storm, but were cleaning up debris and were without power for days after Cindy's passage. Even though it had weakened to a depression when it moved inland, Cindy's effects were still significant across the final portion of its track. The day after its landfall in southeastern Louisiana, Tropical Depression Cindy reached central Alabama. There its rainbands produced heavy rainfall and eight tornadoes. Damage was mostly limited to trees and powerlines. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta recorded over 5 inches (130 mm) of rain on July 6, its sixth-highest one-day rainfall since records began in 1878; most of the rain fell during just two hours (8–10 p.m. EDT). This is more rain than the area normally gets in all of July. Due to the rain, the Atlanta Braves game against the Chicago Cubs was postponed.

Cindy's remnant low moving across western and northern North Carolina combined with a frontal boundary to produce several supercell thunderstorms. Continuing north, Cindy brought over 5 in (125 mm) of rain to areas as distant as Salisbury, Maryland. In addition, Cindy's remnants produce moderate rainfall in Upstate New York causing light damage due to flooding and gusty winds, which downed some trees.

Tornado outbreak


As the remnants of Cindy weakened over Louisiana, it led to a two-day tornado outbreak across the southeastern United States. On July 6 alone, 67 tornado warnings were issued by the National Weather Service, single-day record in July until it was broken by Hurricane Beryl in 2024.

The outbreak began as the remnants of Cindy weakened over Louisiana. As the storm weakened, strong thunderstorms began to develop along the edges of the system in Alabama. The first tornado touched down near Semmes, Alabama at 3:00a.m. (CST). The tornado caused roof damage to several structures as well as knocking down several trees. Over the next ten hours, several F0 and two F1 tornadoes touched down in Alabama and Florida. Later on July 6, the remnants of Cindy were moving over Alabama and the activity shifted into Georgia. At 8:45pm (EST), a large tornado touched down near the Atlanta Motor Speedway causing severe damage to the structures in the complex. The tornado then moved into an airfield where several planes and helicopters were damaged. Numerous homes were damaged or destroyed by the tornado as well. The tornado was rated F2 by the NWS. The activity slowed for a short while before picking back up in early afternoon hours on July 7 as the remnants of Cindy moved through Georgia. At 2:10PM (EST) an F2 tornado touched down about seven miles south of Taylorsville, North Carolina where three buildings were damaged a mobile home was destroyed. About an hour later, another F2 tornado touched down in North Carolina. It touched down about four miles north-northeast of Harmony. The tornado damaged several buildings before moving into Yadkin County where an additional 13 buildings were damaged as well as severe crop damage to the tobacco and corn farms. By the nighttime hours, the activity was shifting into Virginia. Before the remnants of Cindy moved out into the Atlantic Ocean, seven F1 tornadoes touched down in Virginia. The outbreak ended early on July 8 as Cindy began to move out over the Atlantic.

Atlanta Motor Speedway tornado
At 01:45 UTC on July 7,, a large tornado touched down at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton in Henry County. Already measuring 0.5 mi in diameter, the large tornado caused heavy damage at the speedway, such as knocking down a 50 ft scoreboard and damaging facilities at the venue. The racetrack was covered with debris, although was not directly damaged. Nearby, the tornado destroyed a gas station and shattered many windows of a nine-story condominium, in addition to damaging the structure's roof. The winds were estimated at 120 to 150 mph, making it an F2 on the Fujita scale. The tornado was on the ground for 19 minutes, which immediately brought its path over Tara Field, where it heavily damaged eleven planes and five vintage helicopters, with two hangars damaged. The twister knocked down trees and power lines, causing damage to nearby homes and leaving much of Henry County without power. Later the tornado moved through the Edgar Blalock Raw Water Reservation, narrowing its width as it moved into Clayton County. After a 9 mi path, the tornado lifted at 02:04 UTC. The tornado caused about $70 million in damage, of which about $40 million was at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, airport, and nearby facilities. Due to the extent of the damage, the speedway was closed until mid-September, when it reopened for a motorsports event.