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addition to documenting 13 best practiccs, the SAT identified opportunities for servicc improvement in 16 findings and recommendations.
EVENT OVERVIEW
On August 19, Katrina developed north of Puerto Rico from a combination ofa tropical wave and the remnants of Tropical Depression Ten. Atmospheric conditions became more conducive for development and the system became a tropical depression on August 23 about 175 miles southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas. On August 24, the system continued to organize and was named “Tropical Storm Katrina” while moving northwest through the Bahamas. Katrina then turned west toward South Florida and continued to strengthen, reaching Category I hurricanc strength less than two hours before its initial U.S. landfall near the Miami-Dadc and Broward County line during the evening of August 25 (Figure 1).
On August 26, Katrina moved onshore in South Florida as a Category 1 hurricanc and weakened to a tropical storm while over land. As the ccntcr moved across Miami-Dade County, the eye passed directly over the building housing NHC and WFO Miami. Katrina strengthened again to a Category 1 hurricanc later that day when it moved over the eastern Gulf of Mcxico. Continuing its southwest movement, Katrina intensified to a Category 2 hurricanc by 11:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on August 26.
Figure 1. NWS WSR-88D radar image of Katrina making landfall in South Florida at 6:30 p.m. EDT August 25, 2005.
From I p.m. CDT August 26 to 1 p.m. CDT August 28, Katrina’s ccntral pressure dropped from 968 mb to its lowest pressure of 902 mb, a drop of 66 mb in 48 hours. Katrina’s maximum sustained winds increased from an estimated 95 mph to an estimated 175 mph during this same period, making Katrina a Category 5 hurricane while it was centered about 170 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. This makes Katrina the sixth most intense hurricanc (based on central pressure) on record in the
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