It goes without saying, but the biggest event in this week’s weather was Hurricane Michael. Here are some of the most staggering facts from the storm:
- Michael became a tropical storm at 12:55 pm EDT Sunday, October 7 and became a hurricane at 11:00 am EDT Monday, October 8.
- Michael makes the 10th hurricane on record (since 1851) have made landfall in the Florida Panhandle with a lower pressure than 957 mb; the most recent of these is Hurricane Dennis (2005, 946 mb). (h/t Phil K.)
- The last Category 3+ to make landfall in Florida was Irma (2017)
- The last US hurricane landfall in October was Matthew (2016)
- Michael was only the 5th category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the month of October. The last was Hazel (1954).
- Until Michael, no US hurricane had ever made landfall in October with sustained winds greater than 130 mph.
- The center of Michael crossed through at least 4 states (FL, GA, SC, NC)
- Storm Surge Flooding now highest observed on record in Apalachicola, FL at 7.7 feet as of Wednesday, October 10.
- Peak wind gusts for spots across Georgia on Wednesday, October 10:
- Macon: 53 MPH
- Warner Robins: 47 MPH
- Valdosta: 45 MPH
- Alma: 43 MPH
- Atlanta: 40 MPH
- Columbus: 38 MPH
- Milledgeville: 37 MPH
- The pressure in Michael continued to drop, to 919 millibars at landfall.
- That makes it the third lowest (and as best as we can recollect, of any U.S. hurricane, mainland or otherwise, as Maria was 920 in Puerto Rico).
- Slightly lower than Katrina and Andrew, and not close to the 1935 Labor Day hurricane at 892 mb, or Camille at 900.
Were you impacted by this monster of a storm? Tell us what weather you experienced this week in the comments below.