Meteorological history of Hurricane Andrew
In 2002, the "Atlantic Basin Hurricane Database Reanalysis Project" examined Hurricane Andrew and this corridor of extreme winds embedded within Andrew's northern eyewall. The project concluded that Category 5 conditions on land occurred only in a small region of southern Dade (now Miami-Dade) County, specifically close to the coast in Cutler Ridge. The remaining areas affected by Andrew's initial landfall in Florida likely experienced sustained Category 4 and 3 hurricane conditions. Andrew was officially re-classified as a Category 5 storm in 2004, and the reanalysis provided a more comprehensive and detailed examination of Andrew's wind field structure upon landfall than originally assessed in 1992.
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.