Tropical Storm in Mississippi, September 2 to 3, 1998

Tropical Storm Earl developed in the southwest Gulf of Mexico on the 31st of August and moved north northeast toward the Louisiana coast. As Earl organized, it's center reformed to the northeast and the storm strengthened to a minimal hurricane south of the Mississippi coast during the morning of September 2nd. Earl's maximum sustained winds increased to 100 mph as it began moving east northeast toward the Florida Panhandle where it made landfall early on September 3rd. Earl's strongest winds remained east of its center well off the coast; therefore, only minimal tropical storm force wind gusts were observed along the immediate Mississippi coastline. A peak wind gust of 42 mph was recorded on September 2nd at 1500 CST by a NOAA weather buoy located in the coastal waters 20 miles south of Biloxi, MS. At Gulfport and Pascagoula the maximum wind gust at both locations was 33 mph on the afternoon of September 2nd.