Climatology
Rank | Hurricane | Season | Landfall pressure |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Labor Day" | 1935 | 892 mbar (hPa) |
2 | Camille | 1969 | 909 mbar (hPa) |
3 | Katrina | 2005 | 920 mbar (hPa) |
4 | Andrew | 1992 | 922 mbar (hPa) |
5 | "Indianola" | 1886 | 925 mbar (hPa) |
6 | "Florida Keys" | 1919 | 927 mbar (hPa) |
7 | "Okeechobee" | 1928 | 929 mbar (hPa) |
8 | "Great Miami" | 1926 | 930 mbar (hPa) |
Donna | 1960 | 930 mbar (hPa) | |
10 | Carla | 1961 | 931 mbar (hPa) |
Tropical cyclones have affected Florida in every month of the year with the exceptions of January and March. Nearly one-third of the cyclones affected the state in September, and nearly three-fourths of the storms affected the state between August and October, which coincides with the peak of the hurricane season. Portions of the coastline have the lowest return period, or the frequency at which a certain intensity or category of hurricane can be expected within 86 mi (139 km) of a given location, in the country. Monroe County was struck by 26 hurricanes since 1926, which is the greatest total for any county in the United States.
In a Monthly Weather Review paper published in 1934, the U.S. Weather Bureau recognized Key West and Pensacola as the most hurricane-prone cities in the state; Key West experiences both storms developing from the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, while Pensacola has received hurricanes crossing the state as well as storms recurving in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The earliest storm to affect the state was the 1952 Groundhog Day Tropical Storm, and the latest storm to impact the state was a hurricane making landfall on December 1, 1925.
The strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall on the state was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, which crossed the Florida Keys with a pressure of 892 mbar (hPa; 26.35 inHg); it is also the strongest hurricane on record to strike the United States. Out of the ten most intense landfalling United States hurricanes, four struck Florida at peak strength.
Read more about this topic: Hurricanes In Florida