List of notable post-1960 Florida hurricanes
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Florida is often affected by tropical cyclones. Many are often notable and get their names retired, normally due to death and damage caused.
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[edit] The storms
[edit] Hurricane Cleo
- Main article: Hurricane Cleo
Category 2 at landfall
The warm Gulf Stream waters helped Cleo to restrengthen to a Category 2 hurricane before making landfall near Miami Beach on the afternoon of August 27. Sustained winds were 100 mph at landfall. The hurricane traveled north up the Miami strip, wreaking havoc along the way. Cleo exited Florida near St. Augustine. Cleo devastated the most densely populated area on the Gold coast and killed 217 people (most in the Caribbean). Damage totaled $198.5 million (1964 dollars). Cleo was the first of three hurricanes that would strike Florida that year. [1]
[edit] Hurricane Dora
- Main article: Hurricane Dora
Category 2 at landfall
Although Jacksonville area received the fewest hurricanes during the 1900's along the Florida coast, the region was struck repeatedly during the 1800's. [2] After almost 70 years without a hurricane, Dora came ashore to end Jacksonville's hurricane drought. Dora briefly reached Category 4 strength before it weakened a little bit and took a more westerly track. As the hurricane approached Jacksonville, Floridians began to take heed of the posted warnings. Dora made landfall early on the morning of September 10 as a weakening Category 2 storm near Jacksonville. Maximum sustained winds were 110 mph at the time of landfall. One person died and damages came to about $239 million (1964 dollars). [3]
[edit] Hurricane Eloise
- Main article: Hurricane Eloise
Category 3 at landfall
Eloise strengthened rapidly during its trek across the Gulf of Mexico. Eloise made landfall as a strong Category 3 hurricane near Grayton Beach. Damage was severe between Panama City and Fort Walton Beach with more than 8,000 people suffering heavy losses and 500 small businesses being destroyed. A storm surge of 17 feet was measured near the point of landfall. However, only 4 people died in Florida thanks to proper warning and evacuation. It was the Panhandle’s worst hurricane in decades. [4]
[edit] Hurricane Andrew
- Main article: Hurricane Andrew
Category 5 at landfall
After nearly dissipating around 500 km/300 miles east of the Bahamas, Andrew turned due west and began strengthening rapidly, becoming a Category 5 hurricane on its way to Florida. Andrew made landfall near Homestead, Florida with maximum sustained winds in the northern eye wall of 165 mph.
At the time, reconnaissance aircraft recorded 162 kt sustained winds at flight level (10,000 ft), and winds at 10 m above sea level were estimated at 125 kt, or 145 mph. However, after reanalysis in 2002, it was found that the formula used to determine surface winds from flight-level winds yielded slightly lower values than experienced in reality, based on dropsondes that had been deployed in other hurricanes since 1992. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said, "Our previous estimate was 145 mph, based on the science available in 1992. With advanced research techniques and technology, we now estimate the winds were stronger." The surface winds calculated with the new formula were estimated to be 165 mph, which made Andrew a Category 5 hurricane at landfall. [5]
One of the most powerful and destructive hurricanes to strike the United States, Andrew remains a notable Atlantic hurricane since it only one of only three storms to make United States landfall at Category 5 intensity. The National Hurricane Center summary called the cyclone "a small and ferocious Cape Verde hurricane that wrought unprecedented economic devastation along a path through the northwestern Bahamas, the southern Florida peninsula, and south-central Louisiana." The total damage estimate at the time was $25 billion, which made Andrew the most expensive natural disaster in United States history, a title it retained until Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, causing $84 billion (2006 USD) in damage. The storm struck southern Dade County (now Miami-Dade County), Florida, with not only violent winds, but also with a storm surge of up to 18 feet. The central pressure at landfall, 922 mb, is the fourth-lowest for a hurricane at landfall in the United States. In Dade County, Andrew caused 15 direct fatalities and left up to one-quarter million people temporarily homeless. An additional 25 people were killed in Dade County from indirect effects during and after the storm. The hurricane center's report said, "The direct loss of life seems remarkably low considering the destruction caused by this hurricane." [6] The devastation in the path south of Miami was nearly absolute. The area around Homestead was dotted with trailer parks and tract houses, most of which were flattened or severely damaged. Homestead Air Force Base was destroyed and remained closed until it was reactivated as an Air Force reserve base several years later.
[edit] Hurricane Opal
- Main article: Hurricane Opal
Category 3 at landfall
Opal formed off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It moved westward and emerged as a tropical storm in the Bay of Campeche before eventually turning northeast. Two days later, Opal strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane. Then, as a result of a favorable jet streak passing by to the north and a warm eddy in the Loop current, Opal underwent a rapid deepening and in less than a day, its winds jumped from 125 mph to 150 mph. The pressure had plummeted from 935 millibars to 916 millibars. However, as quickly as it had strengthened, Opal fell just as dramatically in intensity due to rather cold waters over the continental shelf (77F/25C) and departure of the jet streak.
Opal made landfall near Pensacola Beach late on October 4 and moved quickly inland. Homes along the shoreline were devastated. Nearly all of the oceanfront homes damaged were gutted by the storm surge (which was five to six feet in some places) and then filled with as much as three feet of sand from the dunes that had been wiped out. Roads were flooded for miles inland. Despite the destruction, only one person was killed in Florida and 8 others were killed in the rest of the United States. Opal, however had caused $2.1 billion in damage in the United States. [7]
[edit] Hurricane Charley
- Main article: Hurricane Charley
Category 4 at landfall
Charley was a strong and compact hurricane that devastated southwest Florida. After crossing Cuba, the hurricane moved into an ideal upper-level environment, which led Charley to deepen rapidly. The eye shrank and the pressure plummeted 23 millibars in 8 hours. Charley then made a slight turn to the northeast. This pointed the hurricane not towards Tampa, but to Port Charlotte and shaved a few hours off of its expected time of arrival. It was too late for the Port Charlotte area residents who had defied hurricane warnings in the belief that Charley would hit Tampa to evacuate. Charley plowed into Punta Gorda a few miles south of Port Charlotte, on Friday the 13th with devastating results. Charley exited Florida and made landfall again near North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane. Thirty people were killed in the United States. Parts of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte were completely destroyed. Devastation of this intensity and small of a scale had not been seen since Hurricane Andrew. Damages are estimated at $15 billion (2004 dollars). This makes Charley the third costliest hurricane in United States history. [8]
[edit] Hurricane Frances
- Main article: Hurricane Frances
Category 2 at landfall
Frances, Florida’s second hurricane of the season, quickly became a major hurricane in the central tropical Atlantic and retained major hurricane status for 6.5 days, nearly a global record. It passed directly over San Salvador in the Bahamas as a Category 4 hurricane but then began to weaken and slow down. Before long, Frances was crawling at 5 mph to the west and the cyclone had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane. Frances slowed further to a near stall before finally making landfall at Sewall's Point near Stuart.
It continued its slow movement, it brought torrential rainfall and caused many rivers to burst their banks. West Palm Beach received over a foot of rainfall from Frances, which weakened to a tropical storm over the peninsula and moved offshore north of Tampa and made a second landfall near St. Marks. Frances killed 48 people in the United States. Frances also caused $9 billion in damage to Florida. [9]
[edit] Hurricane Ivan
- Main article: Hurricane Ivan
Category 3 at landfall
Ivan grazed Jamaica as a strong Category 4 and swamped the Cayman Islands under a ten-foot storm surge. Ivan passed through the Yucatan Channel as a Category 5 and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Vertical wind shear reduced Ivan to a 120-mph Category 3 at landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama. Despite the weakening, Ivan still hurled a 12-foot storm surge onto the barrier islands and the inland coast. A multi-story condominium complex was partially toppled by Ivan and its vicious storm surge; a first in recent memory. Reduced to an extratropical low pressure system inland, Ivan moved offshore the Eastern Seaboard. It later dropped south and moved across south Florida before regenerating into a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. The shoreline of Gulf Shores and Pensacola, Florida laid in ruin. The harbors were destroyed and debris was scattered throughout the streets. Damage from Ivan totaled $14.8 billion. Ivan was the third costliest hurricane in history at the time, but has since dropped to fifth. [10]
[edit] Hurricane Jeanne
- Main article: Hurricane Jeanne
Category 3 at landfall
Jeanne weakened to a tropical depression in the southwest Atlantic but subsequently strengthened into a hurricane by September 20. Making an anticyclonic loop out in the Atlantic Ocean, Jeanne doubled back toward Florida. Jeanne would strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane and remained at that intensity until making landfall roughly 3 miles from where Frances had made landfall a few weeks before. The already-battered state experienced its fourth hurricane in six weeks, which worsened the damage in areas that had already been hit by the first three storms. The cost from Jeanne in the United States was $6.9 billion, which was difficult to isolate from the damage from Frances and Charley. Twenty-eight people were killed in Florida.[11]
[edit] Hurricane Dennis
- Main article: Hurricane Dennis
Category 3 at landfall
Dennis inched its way across Cuba and weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. It quickly restrengthened to a Category 4 hurricane again as it bore down on the Florida Panhandle. Dennis hit a cooler, shallowing strip of water along the continental shelf which weakened it into a moderate Category 3 hurricane before speeding up and slamming into the Panhandle with 120 mph sustained winds. After the storm passed, it weakened considerably. In the meantime, initial damage reports indicated minor to moderate damage. "This wasn't near as bad as Ivan," officials and news reporters said. Many beachfront homes in the Navarre Beach area were destroyed or heavily damaged. Streets were flooded throughout the Panhandle, including as much as six feet as far east as St. Marks. The damage was reminiscent of, but slightly worse than, that of Hurricane Opal in 1995. Total damages are estimated at $2.2 billion dollars. It was Florida's fifth destructive hurricane within one year. [12]
[edit] Hurricane Wilma
- Main article: Hurricane Wilma
Category 3 at landfall
Wilma trekked slowly across the northeast Yucatan peninsula and weakened the storm to a Category 2. Wilma restrengthened into a strong Category 3 as it moved towards Florida. Wilma made its second landfall near Goodland, Florida. Wilma smashed through downtown Miami and the Gold Coast. Hundreds of windows were blown out across the region. Many Spanish tiled roofs received damage. Some areas around Deerfield Beach were significantly defoliated. Wilma caused the largest power outage in the history of Florida, with six million people losing power. In all, Wilma killed 62 people and caused $12 billion in damage in Florida. [13] Wilma was and remains the third-costliest hurricane in history, behind only Hurricane Katrina and the aforementioned Hurricane Andrew.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1964/cleo/prenhc/
- ^ http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/history/index.html
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1964/dora/prenhc/
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1975-prelim/eloise/
- ^ http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/andrew.html
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1992-prelim/andrew/
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1995opal.html
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2004charley.shtml?
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2004frances.shtml
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2004ivan.shtml
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2004jeanne.shtml
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL042005_Dennis.pdf
- ^ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL252005_Wilma.pdf
[edit] See also
- List of notable Florida hurricanes from 1900-1960
- List of notable tropical cyclones
- List of Atlantic hurricane seasons
