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).
Hurricane Andrew
A tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa on August 14. A ridge of high pressure to its north caused the wave to move quickly westward. An area of convection developed along the wave axis to the south of the Cape Verde islands, and on August 15, meteorologists began classifying the system with the Dvorak technique. The thunderstorm activity became more concentrated, and narrow spiral rainbands began to develop around a center of circulation. It is estimated that Tropical Depression Three developed late on August 16, about east-southeast of Barbados. Embedded within the deep easterlies, the depression tracked west-northwestward at . Initially, moderate wind shear prevented strengthening, until a decrease in shear allowed the depression to intensify into Tropical Storm Andrew at 12:00 UTC on August 17.