The Nationwide Hurricane Heart introduced in the present day that Hurricane Ian of 2022 attained class 5 standing with 160 mph sustained winds and a central strain of 937 mb for a number of hours earlier than weakening barely and hitting Florida as a devastating Cat 4. Be aware that the uncertainties within the remaining “best-track” estimates of hurricane intensities are round ±10%, and there may be little or no sensible distinction between a 160-mph class 5 and a 155-mph class 4 hurricane, which was its peak depth as initially assessed.
Ian made a complete of 5 landfalls: in western Cuba as a Cat 4 with 125 mph winds on Sept. 27; within the Dry Tortugas as a Cat 3 with 125 mph winds on Sept. 28; on Florida’s Cayo Costa Island as a Cat 4 with 150 mph winds on Sept. 28; close to Fort Myers Seashore as a Cat 4 with 145 mph winds on Sept. 28; and as a Cat 1 with 80 mph winds on Sept. 30 close to Georgetown, South Carolina.
The best sustained wind reported close to the landfall location was 94 knots (108 mph) from a WeatherSTEM station at Iona, Florida; the anemometer peak is unknown. A number of stations close to the trail of Ian’s heart went out of service earlier than or in the course of the strongest winds. For extra on the a number of components that designate why there are seldom surface-based wind observations as excessive because the formally estimated wind speeds at landfall, see our 2018 deep-dive put up, Hurricane Winds at Landfall: A Measurement Problem.
Complete damages from Ian are estimated at $112.9 billion, making it the third-most costly climate catastrophe in world historical past. Solely Hurricane Katrina of 2005 ($190 billion) and Hurricane Harvey of 2017 ($151 billion) had been costlier.
An unusually lethal hurricane
Ian had a really excessive demise toll, with 66 direct deaths, all in Florida. This makes Ian the seventh-deadliest U.S. hurricane of the previous 60 years for direct deaths. Storm surge was the deadliest hazard, claiming 41 lives, with 36 of the 41 surge fatalities occurring in Lee County, Florida. There have been 12 direct fatalities attributed to freshwater flooding in central and jap Florida, eight had been categorized as marine fatalities, 4 had been associated to wind, and one was on account of tough surf. A ship carrying a reported 27 migrants touring from Cuba to the US capsized simply off the coast of the Florida Keys in tough waters generated by Ian. Although 4 passengers swam to shore and 5 had been rescued, solely seven our bodies had been recovered (accounting for seven of the eight marine deaths). The 11 different individuals lacking from the boat will not be represented within the whole fatalities. A pair residing on a separate boat that was set adrift from the Florida Keys can be nonetheless lacking.
Ian’s direct plus oblique demise toll was additionally very excessive: 166. Many of the victims (84 in whole) had been positioned in Florida, with 5 in North Carolina and one in Virginia. This toll makes Ian the fourth-deadliest U.S. hurricane of the previous 60 years for whole deaths. 5 Ian-related deaths additionally occurred in Cuba.
Storm surge
Water-related components prompted all however 4 of the 66 direct deaths, as famous above. Chief amongst these components was storm surge. Ian produced a peak storm surge of 8-10 toes above floor degree in Cuba, and 10-15 toes in Fort Myers Seashore and Estero Island, Florida. Storm surge was 9-13 toes above floor degree in jap Sanibel Island, 6-9 toes in Naples, 4-6 toes in Marco Island, 3-5 toes in northeastern Florida, and as much as 6 toes alongside the South Carolina coast.
Rainfall
The best storm whole rainfall from Ian was 26.95 inches in Grove Metropolis, Florida, positioned simply north of the landfall location on the western facet of the state. Counties north of the monitor of Ian’s heart (together with Charlotte, Sarasota, Hardee, DeSoto, Polk, and Manatee) skilled vital flooding when the Peace, Myakka, and Alafia Rivers, and Horse Creek all crested to report ranges. In central and jap Florida, rainfall totals of 10-20 inches prompted main river flooding. Rainfall totals reached a secondary peak as Ian neared the Atlantic Ocean, with 21.49 inches recorded at Daytona Seashore.
Rainfall totals in coastal areas of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland ranged from 3 to over 10 inches, including recent water to the storm surge (in Horry and Georgetown counties in South Carolina). In Charleston, South Carolina, 10.75 inches of rain was noticed.
Most rainfall totals of over 20 inches (over 500 mm) occurred within the western portion of Cuba; within the Bahamas, over 9 inches of whole rainfall had been recorded on each Nice Abaco and Bimini Islands.
Tornadoes
Ian’s outer rain bands produced 15 tornadoes, 14 of them in Florida and one in North Carolina. The magnitude of the tornadoes ranged from EF0-EF2. Notably, an EF2 twister with a 7-mile monitor in Palm Seashore County injured two when it prompted the roof of a home to break down, and an EF1 twister hit the North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, damaging a number of buildings and plane, inflicting an estimated $2 million in property harm.
2022: a below-average yr for Cat 5 storms
With Hurricane Ian’s improve to Cat 5 standing, the tally of Cat 5s noticed globally in 2022 has risen to 3. Tremendous Hurricane Hinnamnor (160 mph winds on Sept. 1) and Tremendous Hurricane Noru (160 mph winds on Sept. 25) each attained class 5 standing in 2022, in accordance with scores by the Joint Hurricane Warning Heart. Hurricane Hinnamnor made landfall in South Korea on Sept. 5 as a class 2 storm with 100 mph winds, killing 11 and inflicting over $1.2 billion in harm. Hurricane Noru made landfall within the Philippines as a Cat 4, and in Vietnam as a Cat 2, killing 22 and inflicting a minimum of $60 million in harm.
The 1990-2022 common for a whole calendar yr is 5.3 Cat 5 storms, in accordance with scores by the Nationwide Hurricane Heart and Joint Hurricane Warning Heart. Two different 2022 storms fell simply 5 mph wanting attaining class 5 energy, topping out with 155 mph winds: Tremendous Hurricane Nanmadol south of Japan on Sept. 17, and Cyclone Darian west of Australia on Dec. 23.
There have been two class 5 storms up to now in 2023: Cyclone Freddy, which peaked with 165 mph winds on Feb. 16 east of Madagascar, and Cyclone Kevin, which peaked with 160 mph winds on March 4 southeast of Vanuatu, after hitting the nation as a class 3 storm.
Bob Henson contributed to this put up.
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