Hurricane Dennis Tracks Past Florida Keys; Broward Watches the Storm Pull North

Hurricane Dennis passed west of the Florida Keys overnight Friday into Saturday as a major hurricane, churning northwest through the Gulf of Mexico on a track aimed at the Florida Panhandle and putting the eastern half of the state on the edge of its outer rain bands. Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties recorded breezy conditions and scattered showers from the storm's outer envelope but were not under tropical-storm warnings as the system's core moved past well to the west.

The National Hurricane Center carried Dennis as a Category 4 hurricane at points during the day Friday with peak sustained winds estimated at 145 miles per hour, briefly making it one of the strongest July hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin. The storm tracked across the western tip of Cuba late Friday afternoon and entered the southeastern Gulf overnight, weakening over land before re-intensifying offshore. Forecasters at the Miami-based hurricane center extended the U.S. landfall watch and warning corridor along the Panhandle from Pensacola to Apalachicola through the weekend.

For South Florida, the storm's practical impact was limited to gusty winds, occasional heavy rain and rough surf along the Atlantic beaches. Broward Sheriff's Office beach patrol and Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue posted red flags along Fort Lauderdale Beach and Hollywood Beach Saturday morning, warning of high surf and rip currents from the storm's circulation. Boaters along the Intracoastal and out of Bahia Mar reported choppy conditions but no widespread damage.

Emergency-management officials in Broward used the weekend as a check on hurricane preparedness for the 2005 season. The county opened its emergency operations center to a partial activation Friday for monitoring purposes, and Broward County Public Schools — currently in its summer break — issued reminders to staff about the district's emergency procedures for storms forecast to make landfall during the school year. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, already running ahead of average through early July with named storms Arlene, Bret, Cindy and now Dennis, has emergency managers across South Florida watching the Cape Verde region for the next system.

Dennis is expected to make landfall along the Florida Panhandle Sunday afternoon. Tropical Storm Emily, currently in the deep tropics east of the Lesser Antilles, is the next system the National Hurricane Center is monitoring. Broward residents have been encouraged to use the weekend's near-miss as a reminder to stock supplies and review household evacuation and shelter plans for the rest of the season.