Hurricane Andrew
Post-analysis on Andrew revealed that the storm was often stronger than operationally reported between early on August 22 and early on August 26. In real time, the National Hurricane Center assessed its peak intensity as , which was upgraded to 155 mph (250 km/h) in a post-storm analysis after the season ended. However, a 2004 paper by Christopher Landsea and others concluded that Andrew became a Category 5 hurricane near the Bahamas on August 23 and reached maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h). The paper also indicated that Andrew briefly re-intensified into a Category 5 hurricane around the time of landfall in South Florida early on August 24. The storm was found to have been slightly stronger while approaching Louisiana, but the landfall winds were decreased from 120 mph (195 km/h) to 115 mph (185 km/h).
Meteorological history of Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was a small tropical cyclone, with winds of extending out only about from its center. Subsequent to peaking in intensity, the hurricane underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, and at 2100 UTC on August 23, Hurricane Andrew struck Eleuthera as a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of . The cyclone weakened further while crossing the Bahama Banks, and at 0100 UTC on August 24, Andrew made landfall on the southern Berry Islands of the Bahamas as a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of . As it crossed over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream in the Straits of Florida, the hurricane rapidly re-intensified, as the eye decreased in size and its eyewall convection deepened. At 0840 UTC on August 24, Andrew struck Elliott Key with winds of and a central pressure of 926 mbar. About 25 minutes after its first Florida landfall, Andrew hit just northeast of Homestead with a slightly lower pressure of 922 mbar. A recording station at the National Hurricane Center recorded a peak gust of , and sustained winds peaked at in Tamiami.