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All Weather News

Could Erika Be Florida’s First Hurricane in 10 Years?

26 Aug 2015, 4:12 pm

NASA's Hurricane Web Page
The forecast path of Tropical Storm Erika, as of now, brings the system right into southern Florida. An area that has dealt with their fair share of tropical weather, but has been lucky enough to avoid a storm of Hurricane strength making landfall in ten years.

Currently, Erika remains a tropical storm and is expected to have little growth over the next several days as it runs into some upper level shear. Shear is defined by the National Weather Service as variation in wind speed (speed shear) and/or direction (directional shear) over a short distance within the atmosphere.
Erika10.2

After 72 hours Erika is expected to move into a more conductive atmosphere where intensity will be likely to increase again. The uncertainty of how the unfavorable atmosphere will impact the storm over the next three days will, in the end, determine the strength of Erika by the time of its forecast landfall (which current models are indicating as Monday).

Here is a look back at the tropical activity to make landfall in Florida over the last ten years.


Erika10

Hurricane Wilma was the last storm at Hurricane strength to directly impact the state. Wilma made landfall on October 24, 2005 in Cape Romano, Florida shortly after strengthening to a Category 3 hurricane. Storms since have made landfall in the Sunshine State, but all as Tropical Storms.

Wilma


Dennis


For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Tracey Anthony

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