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.
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.