Before crashing into Florida, Hurricane Irma set all sorts of records for brute strength as it flattened Caribbean islands and swamped the Florida Keys. Irma’s assault – so soon after Harvey‘s deluge of Houston – marked the first time the U.S. was hit by two Category 4 storms in the same year.
Irma hit the Sunshine State as a big wide beast, though not quite the monster it once was shaping up to be. Earlier, it was the most powerful recorded storm in the open Atlantic. But as the once-Category 5 storm neared the U.S. mainland, it lost some oomph after running into the northern coast of Cuba.
LIVE UPDATES: Tracking Hurricane Irma’s path
Winds dropped to a quite potent 115 mph (185 kph) by the time Irma made landfall on Marco Island, on the Florida peninsula, still a major and dangerous hurricane yet not near its 185 mph (297 kph) former self when it set a record Tuesday for the most powerful storm in the open Atlantic. And on top of that, Irma avoided what could have been its most destructive paths along the Florida peninsula – over Miami and the heavily developed Atlantic seaboard. Still, at about 400 miles (640 kilometres) wide, it raked much of the state with devastating storm surge, destructive winds and drenching rains.
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Electrical explosion lights up night sky in Tampa, Fla. during Hurricane Irma -
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Hurricane Irma storm surges that could reach 15 feet high are expected to threaten Florida cities -
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Boats heard cracking on break walls as Hurricane Irma continues path of destruction -
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Time-lapse video shows the arrival of Hurricane Irma to West Palm Beach, FL -
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Video captures moment Hurricane Irma topples crane atop Miami building -
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Ferocious wind, rain from Hurricane Irma in Naples, Fla. rips roof tiles off of building -
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Collapsed crane dangles from Miami building after Hurricane Irma topples it -
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Irma leaves trail of debris and destruction in Florida Keys -
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Tornado appears to form over Fort Lauderdale amid Hurricane Irma -
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Hurricane Irma: Police, fire crews unable to respond to emergency calls due to storm -
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Hurricane Irma: Key West camera captures massive wave knock over storm watcher -
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‘Pray for us’: Florida governor hopes for best in candid interview as Hurricane Irma strikes state -
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Reporter braves Hurricane Irma near ferocious Miami River -
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Hurricane Irma: Only highway out of Florida Keys ‘impassable’ -
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Sheriff’s Office crew braves rough seas to rescue stranded sailors off Florida coast -
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Reporter clutches to tree as strong Hurricane Irma winds nearly blow him away -
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Rocky waters from Hurricane Irma makes boats look like bath toys -
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‘Is anybody else freaked out’: News anchor fearful of Irma storm surge
“There’s a huge difference between a (Category) 3 and 5 when it makes landfall,” said private meteorologist Ryan Maue of WeatherBell Analytics. “Barbuda is an example of that. It was wiped.”
“This is obviously not the worst case scenario for Florida overall,” Maue said. Had the centre of Irma hit Florida 20 to 30 miles (32-50 kilometres) to the east “it would have been much worse.”
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Florida can thank Cuba, where it did hit as a Category 5 storm, said Maue and Jeff Masters, meteorology director for Weather Underground.
READ MORE: Hurricane Irma pounds Florida, toppling construction cranes and knocking out power to millions
Irma would probably have hit Florida as a Category 5 hurricane if it had missed Cuba, Masters told The Associated Press.
The storm briefly trekked over Cuba’s low populated coast Friday evening through Saturday afternoon. That weakened Irma enough that when upper level winds from the west eroded some of the storm’s top and also blew in dry air, it had the combined of effect of making Irma more ragged, Masters said. It was at that, he said, that Irma’s southwest eyewall sort of came apart, no longer a perfect circle on satellite imagery.
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Collier County, FL battered by high winds as eye of Hurricane Irma bears down -
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Tree comes crashing down behind reporter in the middle of live Hurricane Irma report -
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Fierce surf from Hurricane Irma slams into Miami pier -
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Hurricane Irma downgraded to Category 2 storm, still expected to wreak havoc on Tampa -
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Florida residents bring their horses inside as Hurricane Irma approaches -
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Hurricane Irma: Intense winds blow bend street signs, trees in Miami -
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Key West resident captures dramatic video of Hurricane Irma’s fury -
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Highway out of Florida Keys washed out by Hurricane Irma’s storm surge -
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Video shows Hurricane Irma’s intense winds shake, sway trees in Miami -
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Massive storm surge floods Key West as Irma’s eyewall hits Florida -
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Floodwaters continue to rise in Fort Lauderdale area, curfew extended -
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Hurricane Irma: Fire crews mark truck stranded in Florida canal as floodwaters rise -
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Hurricane Irma knocks out power to parts of Florida -
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Cuban emergency crews rescue residents from neighbourhoods flooded by Hurricane Irma -
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Ocean floor off Bahamas exposed as Hurricane Irma sucks up water
Slightly weakened from Cuba, the storm got caught up in competing weather systems a little longer, delaying its northward right turn into Florida. And that delay pushed the track further west, making it more of a threat to Florida’s west coast than its east.
Florida’s west coast has about $1 trillion in property at risk to a storm, compared to $1.5 trillion on the east, according to insurance computer modeling firm AIR Worldwide. The company estimates insured losses for Irma will be between $15 billion and $50 billion.
READ MORE: Florida looters taking advantage of Hurricane Irma evacuations, several arrested
And even another 20 to 30 miles (32-50 kilometres) would have put the nasty and stronger northeast quadrant of stronger winds, storm surge, rainfall and tornadoes more directly in Miami, Maue said. And even hitting the Tampa region from land to the south instead of from open water will reduce storm surge ever so slightly, Masters said.
Despite all that, Masters predicts that when Irma is done it will go down as one of the five costliest hurricanes in U.S. history, but not up with the top three of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, 2012’s Sandy and this year’s Harvey. Still, he guessed, it will be grouped with two other South Florida storms: 1992’s Andrew and 2005’s Wilma.
WATCH: Hurricane Irma batters Florida
Irma’s two U.S. landfalls were unusually powerful. When Irma passed over the Florida Keys Sunday morning its central pressure was the seventh lowest for a smack into the United States. Only the 1935 Labor Day storm, 1969’s Camille, Katrina, Andrew, an 1886 Indianola, Texas, storm, and a 1919 Florida Keys storm were more intense based on atmospheric pressure. Irma ties the killer 1928 Lake Okeechobee hurricane.
READ MORE: Canadian med students who fled St. Maarten urge Ottawa to help peers stranded by Irma
Irma’s second landfall on Marco Island, taken by itself, still would rank among the top couple dozen landfalls in intensity, slightly weaker than Harvey.
Irma set plenty of records, according to a two-page list compiled by Colorado State University researcher Phil Klotzbach:
- Its 185 mph (297 kph) winds were the highest on record for the open Atlantic ocean, outside the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean sea. Only one other storm in the entire Atlantic basin – 1980’s Allen – was stronger.
- It spent three consecutive days as a top-of-the-scale Category 5 hurricane, the longest in the satellite era.
- It generated the second most Accumulated Cyclone Energy – a key measurement that combines strength and duration – in the satellite era. Irma generated about as much as energy as entire normal Atlantic hurricane season.
- It was the strongest storm to hit the Leeward Islands.
- It’s the first Category 5 hurricane to hit Cuba, which regularly gets assaulted by hurricanes, in nearly 100 years.
“This storm is the real deal,” Klotzbach said.
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