Effects of Hurricane Irma in Florida
Irma was the first major hurricane to strike the state since Wilma in 2005 and the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Charley in 2004. The storm made landfall in Florida on the same date as Hurricane Donna, the last Category 4 hurricane to strike the Florida Keys. Irma was only the second hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma, the other being Hermine in 2016. Due to few very intense hurricanes since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, there was concern that many Floridians never experienced or did not recall experiencing a hurricane as strong as Irma was projected to be at landfall, with significant growth in population and assets during the previous 25 years.
Hurricane Earl (1998)
Around 0600 UTC (1:00 am EDT) on September 3, Hurricane Earl made landfall near Panama City, Florida with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). Shortly after landfall, the storm weakened to a tropical storm and rapidly accelerated as it quickly underwent an extratropical transition. By this time the NHC issued their final advisory on Earl. Several hours later, Earl finished its transition and continued to rapidly track through the Southeast United States. After entering the Atlantic Ocean, the remnants of Earl began re-intensify due to the effects of a baroclinic zone. Relatively cool sea surface temperatures near Atlantic Canada prevented tropical development; however, during a 36-hour span, Earl rapidly intensified, as the central barometric pressure decreased by 40 mbar (hPa; 1.18 inHg) to 957 mbar (hPa; 28.26 inHg). By the time the system made landfall over eastern Newfoundland, sustained winds had intensified to 65 mph (100 km/h). On September 8, the remnants of Earl significantly weakened and were soon absorbed by a larger extratropical cyclone associated with the remnants of Hurricane Danielle.