and Martinique. Marilyn passed over Dominica, and just Îles des Saintes and southwest of Guadeloupe on September 14, bringing heavy rains and strong winds with it. Marilyn continued on its northwesterly track, making landfall in the U.S. Virgin Islands on September 15, packing winds of , a strong Category 2 strength hurricane. The eyewall, east-southeast of the center of Marilyn, passed over Saint Thomas later that day. After passing over Puerto Rico, Marilyn entered back into the Atlantic Ocean on September 16. A low had formed near Marilyn, which may have enhanced outflow from the system. An eye formed in the center of Marilyn, and the storm reached a peak intensity of 949 millibars and winds of , a lower-end Category 3 hurricane. At this time, Marilyn was predicted to peak in wind speeds of . Reconnaissance data found a concentric pair of eyewall wind maxima. Marilyn started weakening rapidly, falling from peak-level winds of down to . The central pressure also rose up 20 mbars in only 10 hours. This rapid weakening was caused by westerly shear and dry air entrained in the system, a decaying eyewall, and especially cool waters upwelled from the previous powerful storm, Hurricane Luis. As Marilyn weakened to Category 1 hurricane status and moved north-northwest, it passed about west of Bermuda on September 19. As Marilyn encountered more westerly shear, it weakened to below hurricane status and made its extratropical transition on September 20, centered in the northeastern Atlantic. The remnant circulation continued to erratically move through the central Atlantic Ocean for another 10 days before being absorbed by a frontal low on September 30. A Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance flight reported hail, which is unusual for tropical cyclones. Preparations Seventeen watches and/or warnings were issued in association with Marilyn. The first two were a tropical storm watch and a tropical storm warning issued on Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenadines, St. Lucia and Grenada on September 12 at 2200 UTC. Five hours later, a tropical storm watch was issued for Trinidad and Tobago. A tropical storm warning was issued for St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenadines, Grenada and Tobago at 900 UTC September 13. At 2100 UTC, a Hurricane Warning was issued for Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenadines, St. Lucia and a hurricane watch for Dominica. A hurricane watch as released for Martinique on September 14. The 2100 UTC September 13 was extended for the Grenadines through St.