The precursor of Hurricane Cesar was a tropical wave which passed Dakar, Africa on 17 July and moved westward for a few days without development. The wave was accompanied by a large 200-mb anticyclone which suggested a very favorable upper-level environment for development. Cloudiness and showers began to increase when the wave was about 900 n mi east of the southern Windward Islands on 22 July. When the wave neared these islands, the 24-hour surface pressure changes were of the order of -3.0 mb, (which is the threshold value that forecasters have typically found to be associated with a developing system) and a surface circulation center began to develop. The incipient center of circulation moved over Trinidad and Tobago early on 24 July. This system produced rains and gusty winds through a large portion of the Lesser Antilles. A post-analysis of the surface data and satellite images indicate that a tropical depression formed from the disturbed weather at 1800 UTC 24 July when the circulation center was moving just to the north of the island of Margarita along the north coast of Venezuela.

The depression moved westward through the southern Caribbean Sea and reached tropical storm status at 1200 UTC 25 July in the vicinity of Curacao. Figure 1a (89K GIF) shows the well defined upper-level anticyclone (200mb) which accompanied the tropical cyclone at that time and Fig. 1b (89K GIF) shows an area of above-normal surface pressure located to the north of the tropical cyclone from the Bahamas westward into the Gulf of Mexico. The latter probably reflects an anomalously strong and persistent high pressure system which forced Cesar to move westward and even south of due west for several days. In addition, this dipole in the pressure field is operationally recognized as a favorable pattern for disturbances to develop and strengthen.

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On July 23rd, a strong tropical wave emerged off the coast of western Africa.It moved swiftly westward, reaching the Lesser Antilles in 5 days. It wasn’t until the 30th when its forward motion slowed, and it was at this time that the cyclone instantly closed off into a tropical depression. The cyclone moved northwest across extreme northwest Cuba during the evening of the 31st, before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico and becoming a tropical storm on the 1st. Rapid intensification ensued and Celia became a hurricane by afternoon. It moved west-northwest directly towards Corpus Christi, moving inland on the 3rd. Celia maintained hurricane strength well inland, with damaging winds reported as far inland as Del Rio and Sanderson in southwest Texas.Below is the track of this cyclone.

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