Tag Archives: #Ian

Ian: The Most Powerful Storm Ever to Hit the U.S. Mainland

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Florida, North and South Carolina faced a massive clean-up on Saturday from the destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, after one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S. mainland caused tens of billions of dollars in damage and killed more than 20 people, according to Reuters.

Ian, now a post-tropical cyclone, was weakening but still forecast to bring treacherous conditions to parts of the Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia into Saturday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“Major to record river flooding will continue across central Florida through next week. Limited flash, urban and small stream flooding is possible across the central Appalachians and the southern Mid-Atlantic this weekend, with minor river flooding expected over the coastal Carolinas,” advises the National Hurricane Center.

The Category 4 major hurricane struck Florida’s Gulf Coast near Fort Meyers on Wednesday, with wind speeds of 150 mph, turning beach towns into disaster areas. And after landfall, it brought devastating winds and floods across Central Florida on Thursday.

Ian exhibited a larger wind field and radius of maximum winds than previous hurricanes. And, Ian tracked slowly across Florida after landfall, amplifying the effects of wind and water.

On Friday, Category 1 hurricane pummeled waterfront Georgetown, north of the historic city of Charleston in South Carolina, with wind speeds of 85 mph.

Roads were flooded and blocked by trees while a number of piers were damaged.

Around 1.7 million homes and businesses were without power in the Carolinas and Florida at 8:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us.

References:

  1. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/florida-carolinas-count-cost-one-worst-us-hurricanes-2022-10-01/
  2. https://www.rms.com/blog/2022/09/29/hurricane-ian-strongest-hurricane-in-southwest-florida-since-2004

Update: Tropical Storm Ian

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Tropical Storm Ian continues to bring dangerous wind, rain and storm surge conditions to parts of Northeast Florida and is expected to regenerate into a hurricane by Thursday evening,

At 2 EDT, Tropical Storm Ian is located 40 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral, FL, and is located 275 miles south of Charleston, SC. It has maximum sustained winds of 70 mph and is moving north by northeast at 9 mph.

A turn toward the north is expected late today, followed by a turn toward the north-northwest with an increase in forward speed Friday night. On the forecast track, Ian will approach the coast of South Carolina on Friday. The center will move farther inland across the Carolinas Friday night and Saturday.

Tropical Storm Ian continues to bring dangerous wind, rain, flash flooding and storm surge conditions to parts of Florida as it churns in the Atlantic Ocean. Ian is expected to become a hurricane again by Thursday evening and make landfall as a hurricane on Friday, with rapid weakening forecast after landfall. A hurricane warning has been issued for the entire South Carolina coast. A tropical storm warning has been extended northward to Duck, North Carolina.

The strongest winds right now from Ian are in northeast Florida (Jacksonville), where some gusts have topped 70 mph in Daytona Beach. Additionally, some gusts over 50 mph have been recorded in Gainesville and Jacksonville, and over 30 mph gusts have worked their way along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina.

Ian is a large tropical cyclone. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 415 miles from the center. A WeatherFlow station in New Smyrna Beach recently reported a sustained wind of 69 mph.

Source: National Hurricane Center