Figure 1: Hurricane Emily's History

Hurricane Emily: One Year Later
One year ago today, Hurricane Emily of July made landfall on the small island of Grenada. Emily would soon become the earliest category 5 on record.

Figure 2: Hurricane Emily near peak Intensity

Hurricane Emily was the fifth named storm, third hurricane, second major hurricane and first Category 5 of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm formed in July as a Cape Verde-type hurricane before passing through the Windward Islands, where it caused heavy damage in Grenada. Emily then made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula as a Category 4 storm, first on the island of Cozumel and then just north of Tulum on the mainland of Quintana Roo. After crossing the Bay of Campeche the hurricane made a final destructive landfall in the state of Tamaulipas in northern Mexico.
When its central pressure fell to 929 mbar and its sustained winds reached to 160 mph (260 km/h) on July 16, Emily became the strongest hurricane ever to form before August, breaking a record set by Hurricane Dennis just six days before. It was also the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin (beating Hurricane Allen's old record by nearly three weeks) and the only Category 5 hurricane ever recorded before August.

Figure 3: Hurricane Emily by The Weather Channel