Hurricane Dean developed in the Atlantic Ocean, west-southwest of Cape Verde, as a tropical depression on the 13th. Dean moved towards the Caribbean sea and by the 16th it reached hurricane intensity. On the 17th, Dean entered the Caribbean Sea through the St. Lucia Channel as a Category 2 hurricane. Although Hurricane Dean passed to the south of Puerto Rico and the island of Hispaniola as a Category 3 hurricane, Dean’s outer rain bands affected the islands as well. During the evening of the 17th, Dean strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane and by the 19th Dean passed south of Jamaica. On August 21, Dean was upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 269 km/hr (167 mph or 145 knots), with gusts of up to 322 km/hr (200 mph or 174 knots), and a central pressure of 906 mb before making landfall in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. While interacting with land, Dean downgraded to a Category 1 storm but immediately regained strength as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico. Dean made its second landfall on August 22 near Tecolutla, Veracruz as a Category 2 storm. Dean lost its strength and dissipated over central Mexico.

Hurricane Dean was the first major hurricane for the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season and the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the Atlantic basin since Andrew in 1992. Dean had a central pressure of 906 mb becoming the 9th lowest on record for the Atlantic Basin but ranked third lowest at landfall in the Atlantic basin since records began, behind the 1935 Labor day hurricane and Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Dean was responsible for at least 20 fatalities across the Caribbean and 10 fatalities in Mexico. Dean destroyed agricultural crops across Mexico and severely damaged its major cruise ship port and hundreds of homes. Insured losses were estimated to be about $300 million (Associated Press).