A hurricane for the record books
Erin explodes from a tropical storm to a Cat 5 hurricane in only a day
Erin was still a tropical storm yesterday, but over the past 24 hours she intensified to a powerful Category 5 hurricane, making her one of the most rapidly intensifying storms in history.
Category 5 is the strongest a hurricane can get on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, with winds greater than 157 mph. Forecasters predicted Erin’s winds would hit around 165 mph by Saturday evening.
Fortunately, the storm’s path will take it away from the East Coast.
Hurricanes reaching Erin’s ferocity making landfall in the United States are rare. Indeed, there have only been four in recorded history:
Most recently, Hurricane Michael smashed into the Florida Panhandle in 2018 with estimated wind speeds of 160 mph.
Twenty-six years earlier, it was Andrew, which roared ashore near Miami and at that time, 1992, was the most destructive storm in Florida’s history prompting major reforms to the state’s building standards.
Hurricane Camille sped past Florida and came ashore on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1969. Camille was a terrifying storm with estimated winds approaching 200 mph. Although that cannot be certain because she was so strong she destroyed all the wind measuring instruments along the coast.
The first of the Category 5 hurricanes to reach the mainland had no formal name and goes by The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. It had wind speeds estimated at 185 mph and caused catastrophic damage in the Florida Keys killing at least 408 people.
You will note that of those four Category 5 hurricanes to strike the mainland, three of them struck Florida.
Which is one reason why here in the Sunshine State we pay VERY CLOSE attention to the weather this time of year.
Fortunately, this time at least, it looks like we got lucky.
J.C. Bruce is an award-winning journalist, columnist, and author. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida.
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