Guide Note

Category 5 hurricane Dean hit the Yucatan Peninsula on August 21, 2007. It weakened, but then strengthened over the Gulf of Mexico, and was a category 2 when it made landfall a second time at Tecoluta on Augst 22. The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical depression on August 23, 2007. Dean was responsible for about 40 deaths in Mexico, Haiti, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean region.

Fast Facts

1. Formed: August 13, 2007¹
2. August 16: First 2007 Atlantic hurricane¹
3. Landfall: August 21, near Costa Maya, Mexico¹
4. Dissipated: August 23
5. Storm intensity: Category 5 (worst)
6. Peak sustained winds: 165mph¹
7. Gusts: Up to 200mph²
8. Casualties: 40¹
9. Third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to hit land since records began in the 1850s²

1. Tropical depression: A group of thunderstorms, winds between 23 and 39mph³
2. Sustained winds of 39mph+: Tropical storm⁴
3. Sustained winds of 74mph+: Hurricane⁴
4. Eye: Calmest point in hurricane
5. Hurricane scale: Categories 1-5 (5 is the worst)
6. US category 5 hurricanes: Florida Keys (1935) and Camille (1969)⁵