| abstract
| - Hurricane Anthony was the first named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane that occurred in the early part of the hyperactive 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the earliest known Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record. Anthony was a short-lived but intense tropical cyclone that originated from a tropical wave over the Central Atlantic that later gained tropical characteristics on June 12 and soon underwent explosive intensification - the fastest of any hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic, reaching Category 5 status only a day later on June 13. This beat Hurricane Wilma's record for the fastest rapid intensification. Anthony shattered several records in the Atlantic during its short life span. Anthony was them most intense hurricane to occur in the Atlantic since Wilma of 2005 in terms of wind speed - with the storm hitting winds of 190 MPH at peak intensity. However, the storm maintained an unusually high pressure during its life - with the lowest pressure estimated to be 932 millibars, a characteristic seen in Category 4 hurricanes. This pressure level may have been a factor of the storm's early dissipation, which may have been a result of a fast-moving track, landfall, an unstable core, and massive upwelling that occurred at the end of the storm's life, thus resulting in an eyewall-replacement cycle. Anthony also had the fastest intensification of any hurricane in the world, mainly due to instability and large bursts of convection in the storm's core - Anthony hit peak intensity on June 13, a day after becoming a depression, which shattered Emily's record of 2005 for being the the most intense tropical cyclone to occur in the Atlantic before August (but not in terms of pressure), as well being the fastest intensifying storm to occur in the Atlantic. Anthony was also the most costliest hurricane to occur in the Atlantic basin, but was later knocked to third after two other very devastating storms occurred later in the season - Deanna and Kingston. Anthony's 190 MPH wind speed record was also shattered later in the season by Kingston, which exceeded a top speed of 205 MPH. Anthony also set records for being the shortest-lived major hurricane and fastest-moving storm in the Atlantic, and also the entire world. The final record Anthony broke was for being the first Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin since Felix in 2007, ending a nine-year streak when no Category 5 hurricanes appeared in the Atlantic. Anthony also caused significant damage in parts of the Caribbean as well as the entire Gulf Coast, causing devastation similar to Katrina of 2005. The storm first hit the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico at tropical-storm force, with winds exceeding 50 MPH, causing minimal damage to buildings and other structures, while 3-5 foot waves flooded beaches and resulted in their closure for up to three days after the storm's passage. Just two hours later, Anthony picked up speed at a torrid pace as the system was estimated to have winds of 70 MPH just as it made landfall in the Dominican Republic even before a warning could be issued, as many NHC scientists expected Anthony to turn NE and hit the Bahamas and then continue to weaken over the Northern Atlantic. However, on June 12 at 10 P.M. EST, Anthony made landfall in Santo Domingo as a 73 MPH Tropical Storm, just shy of minimal hurricane status, which it achieved over Haiti later the next day. The storm then struck Haiti at C1 intensity, in which the storm had undergone a rare phenomenon in which Anthony actually strengthened over land. Serious damage occurred in the $78 million dollar range, with widespread power outages and a four-foot storm surge being blamed on high winds exceeding 75 MPH, with gusts reaching 90 MPH in Belladere, Haiti, shortly before electricity was knocked out. Anthony continued to travel west across the Caribbean, affecting Cuba at Category 2 strength, causing extensive damage prior to shifting directly north over the Gulf of Mexico, the ideal spot for a storm to explosively intensify due to low wind shear and unseasonably warm waters. Anthony later shifted north as its eastern eyewall impacted the Florida Keys and parts of southwestern Florida, with 90 MPH sustained winds and even higher gusts causing heavy damage, of which was exacerbated due to the many weak tornadoes caused by Anthony across the state. Virtually no wind shear and unseasonably warm sea surface temperatures induced explosive strengthening within the system - later retaining 160 MPH winds within three hours as Anthony's movement began to increase. This made Anthony the earliest forming major hurricane and Category 5 on record as its size nearly doubled - having shattered Hurricane Emily's record in 2005 for the most intense tropical cyclone to form before August. The accelerated movement and unexpected strengthening prompted emergency mandatory evacuations for the Florida panhandle, as landfall was expected in fewer than six hours. What became voluntary evacuations later became mandatory as the highest levels of alert were issued across the entire Gulf Coast. Only an hour later, Anthony attained winds that were the strongest of any hurricane in the Atlantic, with Allen being the only other Atlantic storm to attain 190 MPH winds. Anthony's central pressure later plummeted to 932 mbar, slightly high for a storm of its caliber, though Anthony's structure was not the best in terms of organization. Powerful swells generated by Anthony caused severe destruction and flooding along western Florida as well as the Florida panhandle. At 4:30 P.M. EDT, Anthony made landfall in Pensacola, Florida with maximum sustained winds topping 190 MPH, making it the strongest wind-speed hurricane to make landfall in the United States. Anthony caused the worst damage seen of any Atlantic storm to make landfall in Florida; as nearly every structure across the Florida coast was absolutely destroyed. Adding to the destruction was a powerful EF3 tornado that tore through downtown Pensacola, causing additional destruction to the already widespread catastrophic damage. Anthony then turned east, only weakening slightly to 185 MPH as it made a slight southwest shift, so the eye remained just offshore, with the intense northern eyewall causing extreme damage in Mobile, Alabama, later submerging part of the city under seven feet of water from Mobile Bay. Damage was more extreme than Ivan in 2004, Dennis in 2005, Katrina in 2005, and Isaac in 2012 combined. Anthony then underwent a severe eyewall-replacement cycle, which imparted explosive weakening as it degenerated into a Category 3 hurricane over New Orleans, with sustained winds of 120 MPH early June 14. Fortunately, due to Anthony's unusual direct westward movement, impacts from storm surge were relatively light, with the highest of the swells reaching only ten feet in height. Later that day, Anthony continued to take an unusual shift southwest as the storm retained its Category 3 intensity whilst making landfall over eastern Mexico, with extreme southern Texas reporting heavy rainfall and gusty winds from the outer bands due to Anthony's widespread circulation. Ironically, Anthony appeared more organized at its Mexican landfall then at peak intensity. Soon after, the terrain and dry air over Mexico imparted explosive weakening within Anthony as it became extratropical at 11 P.M. EDT June 14. The storm maintained 50 MPH winds as it emerged over the Eastern Pacific, though it remained extratropical at landfall in Baja California. The remnants continued to disorganize over New Mexico, with the terrain of the Rocky Mountains tearing up the circulation on June 16.
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