The Fourth of July holiday was anything but a picnic for forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Florida. Not only were they dealing with Tropical Storm Cindy, but now had a second system on their hands.

A tropical wave near the Windward Islands developed into a tropical depression on July 4th while making its west-northwestward track through the central Caribbean. It became Tropical Storm Dennis on July 5th. Just one day later, Dennis became the first hurricane of the season about 245 miles east-southeast of Jamaica.

Dennis rapidly strengthened into a major hurricane during the following 48 hours, reaching category 4 status. Maximum sustained winds were 150 MPH on July 8th as the storm neared Cuba.

The eye of Dennis passed over Cabo Cruz, Cuba, early on the 8th with winds up to 135 MPH. The storm made a second landfall in Cuba along the south-central coast later that day near the town of Cienfuegos. Winds were 145 MPH.

Central and eastern Cuba experienced widespread power and phone outages, along with considerable damage. The storm had weakened to a category 1 after passing near Havana. On July 9th, Dennis emerged back over water into the southeast Gulf of Mexico.

By July 10th the storm was back up to category 4 status as weary residents along the central Gulf Coast made preparations for another landfalling storm.

Dennis charged toward the Florida panhandle while weakening slightly. The storm roared onshore late on the 10th near Navarre Beach, Florida, as a category 3 storm.

Dennis dissipated over the Tennessee River Valley on July 12th.

Over 32 lives were lost with this tropical system, mostly in the Caribbean Islands. No deaths in the United States were attributed directly to the landfall, but in the days following, three lives were lost in Florida due to electrocution and carbon monoxide poisoning.

There were several weak tornadoes associated with the landfall of Dennis, as well as tree and power line damage. Power was out to nearly a half million people.

Major flash flooding was reported from the storm as a widespread 3 to 6" of rain fell, along with severe beach erosion from Pensacola to Destin.