would allow for further strengthening despite wind shear and interaction with the high terrain of Central America. Additionally, some forecasts predicted that Adrian would survive the passage of Central America and enter the Caribbean, possibly becoming the third known storm to cross from the eastern Pacific into the Atlantic basin. By May 19, the storm became relatively disorganized and Adrian only maintained a small area of convection around its center. However, within hours of this disorganization, the system rapidly consolidated and satellite imagery depicted the precursor to an eye forming. Following this, Adrian intensified to a minimal hurricane before attaining its peak intensity around 10:00 am PDT (1700 UTC) on May 19. At this time, the storm was situated about 85 mi (140 km) and had sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) and a barometric pressure of 982 mbar (hPa; 29 inHg). Not long after becoming a hurricane, Adrian suddenly succumbed to persistent wind shear off the coast of El Salvador. Operationally, this weakening was not noticed by the NHC, leading to their assessment of the storm making landfall in El Salvador around 11:00 pm PDT (0600 UTC on May 20) as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. In post-storm analysis, it was determined that the center of Adrian never actually crossed the coastline of El Salvador. Rather, convection associated with the system was sheared northward away from the center of circulation. Meteorologists at the NHC stated that Adrian's near-parallel track along the coast of El Salvador contributed to its rapid weakening as well as keeping the low offshore. Later on May 20, the system weakened to a tropical depression and made landfall in Honduras, along the Gulf of Fonseca, around 1:00 pm PDT (2100 UTC) with winds of 25 mph (35 km/h). Several hours later, Adrian dissipated over the mountains of Central America. Preparations In response to the approaching hurricane, officials in El Salvador initiated the evacuations of about 3,500 families throughout 13 municipalities. Public facilities, as precautionary measures, were closed. The local governments and citizens were mindful of the damages caused to the region by other hurricanes, namely the 9,000 deaths caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. According to President Antonio Saca, roughly 23,000 people evacuated by the storm's arrival. In fears of significant damage, a state of emergency was declared for the entire country, home to roughly 6.5 million people. In nearby Honduras,