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2018’s Hurricane Michael upgraded to Category 5, strongest storm to hit US in 26 years

Michael is the strongest hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
michael

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have concluded a detailed post-storm analysis of Hurricane Michael and determined the storm’s estimated intensity at landfall was 160 MPH. This five-mile-per-hour increase in wind speeds now makes Michael an official Category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale when it made landfall on October 10, 2018, near Mexico Beach, Florida.

2018’s Hurricane Michael upgraded to Category 5, strongest storm to hit US in 26 years

Michael is now the first category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and only the fourth category 5 hurricane on record. Michael is also the strongest hurricane landfall on record in the Florida Panhandle and only the second known category 5 landfall on the northern Gulf cost.

Other Category 5 Hurricanes:
1992 – Andrew
1969 – Camile
1935 – Labor Day

The previous wind speed estimate was 155 miles per hour. The new intensity estimate was determined from a review of aircraft winds, surface winds, surface pressures, satellite intensity estimates, and Doppler radar data, most of which were not available in real-time as the storm landed.

The pressure is also used as a measurement is storm intensity and in general, the lower a storm’s central pressure, the higher the wind speeds. Michael sustained a central pressure of 919 millibars at landfall, which is the third lowest on record for a landfalling United States hurricane since records began in 1900.  The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 had a central pressure of 892 millibars while Hurricane Camile had a central pressure of 900 millibars.

2018’s Hurricane Michael upgraded to Category 5, strongest storm to hit US in 26 years

Though category 5 winds were likely experienced in a very small area, wind speeds are of little significance in terms of the associated impacts with the storms.

The storm was responsible for 16 deaths and about $25 billion in damage in the United States.

Meteorologist Andrew Stutzke

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