Hurricane Hermine

Hermine was a compact, fast-strengthening Gulf cyclone that became a Category 1 hurricane before striking Florida’s Big Bend coast just east of St. Marks. The system formed from a tropical wave, organized over the Straits of Florida, and steadily intensified over very warm waters and improving upper-level conditions. Hermine reached peak intensity of 70 kt (80 mph) late on September 1 into early September 2 and brought destructive storm surge along the Nature Coast, flooding rains across Florida’s west coast into the Southeast, and a small outbreak of tornadoes. After landfall, Hermine weakened while sweeping northeast across Georgia and the Carolinas, with widespread power outages and pockets of wind and water damage.

Overview

• Storm Intensity: Category 1 hurricane at landfall
• Max Winds: 80 mph (70 kt)
• Formation: August 28, 2016 at 1800 UTC (2:00 PM EDT) over the Straits of Florida about 50 n mi south-southeast of Key West
• Landfall: Near St. Marks, Florida on September 2, 2016 at 0530 UTC (1:30 AM EDT)
• Minimum Pressure: 981 mb (at landfall)

Timeline

• August 28, 2016: Tropical depression forms in the Straits of Florida.
• August 31, 2016: Strengthens into a tropical storm while turning north.
• September 1, 2016 at 1800 UTC (2:00 PM EDT): Becomes a hurricane over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.
• September 2, 2016 at 0530 UTC (1:30 AM EDT): Makes landfall just east of St. Marks, then weakens inland through the day.

Impacts

• Storm surge and inundation: Peak measured surge of 7.50 ft at Cedar Key; 4–7 ft inundation east of landfall across Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, and Levy Counties. Tampa Bay and the west-central coast saw 2–4 ft inundation with several gauges recording 3–4 ft storm tides.
• Rainfall and flooding: Maximum storm-total rainfall of 22.36 inches near Tarpon Springs (Pinellas County), with numerous 10+ inch totals along Florida’s west coast and heavy rain extending into Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina with local flooding.
• Tornadoes: Ten total—five in Florida, two in Georgia, and three in North Carolina.
• Power outages: Over 253,000 customers without power in Florida; about 65% of Tallahassee customers impacted and 91% in Wakulla County.
• Fatalities: One direct death in Ocala, Florida; an additional fatality occurred in North Carolina during strong winds the next morning.
• Damage: Estimated $550 million (wind and water).

Source

The information above is sourced from the National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Cyclone Report. You can view the full document here.

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