17 Years Ago...South Florida

[jinftl]

Agree....some of the images of damage look like only a Katrina or Ike-type surge could cause that.....to think this was mainly a wind event is frightening because the photos were not taken in 'mandatory evacuation' zones. Like I have said before, what on earth will a storm shutter do to keep out 200 mph gusts? It is a miracle that the death toll wasn't higher. Take out the $ portion of damage caused by surge....and compare wind damage to wind damage by storm....nothing comes remotely close to matching what Andew did even in a 'it could have been worse if further north' outcome.

To see photos of cars flipped upside downtown in a garage say it all. Can you imagine winds so intense that at the same time it peels the roof off the suction flips the cars! Now just imagine the roar of the wind. As many have posted, it was a 30 mile wide tornado. Truely amazing.

[HurricaneBelle]

The one (minor) thing I'll never forget was from that Sunday afternoon, checking the METARs on CompuServe (back in the pre-WWW days), and seeing the final METAR issued from Homestead AFB around 2 or 3PM before they packed up and evacuated. In the comments section at the end, it simply said "GONE WITH THE WIND".

[DanKellFla]

That windfield map is impressive and scary. From my limited knowledge about roofs in Florida, I understand that a few miles from the shore roofs only have to be built to survive a Cat 3 storm. I live 5 miles from the shore. I can't tell from the wind map, but I think Cat 3 winds even got that far inland. (And that doesn't even address mini-tornados)

[jinftl]

Tamiami Airport...more than 10 miles inland had sustained winds of 127 mph before the instrument failed....and this readingd was reported about 20 min before the worst conditions hit. Cat 4/possible Cat 5 conditions occured in the area around the eyewall from biscayne bay at least as far inland as where the western areas meets the everglades. Since the 'strip' of developed land in south florida goes from the beach to maybe 15 miles inland, there is no reason why Cat 5 conditions couldn't hit all areas where the eye crossed over.

That windfield map is impressive and scary. From my limited knowledge about roofs in Florida, I understand that a few miles from the shore roofs only have to be built to survive a Cat 3 storm. I live 5 miles from the shore. I can't tell from the wind map, but I think Cat 3 winds even got that far inland. (And that doesn't even address mini-tornados)

[HurricaneJoe22]

Here's a link to some of the Hurricane Andrew stories in South Florida Sun-Sentinel before, during and after the storm:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weathe ... orygallery

[Ptarmigan]

The damage from Andrew looks like tornado damage in the Midwest. I have never seen cars flipped from a hurricane.

[Bocadude85]

The damage from Andrew looks like tornado damage in the Midwest. I have never seen cars flipped from a hurricane.

When Hurricane Wilma came through in 2005 many cars were flipped in the Ft Lauderdale area.

[Normandy]

The fact that cars were flipped wasn't the impressive part of Andrew. Many cars were thrown like toys, mangled upon impact (much like you see in violent tornadoes). This damage was done in streaks, as there are damage photos of a couple of cars tossed and mangled while next to them other cars remained on their driveways. It makes sense when you think about it, as an EF4-EF5 tornado produces these kind of phenomenon (in greater quanitity because of the different dynamics of a tornado). Straight line 200 mph wind gusts, which I believe Andrew produced in high numbers considering the gusts measured outside of the eyewall, can produce extreme damage.

Like I mentioned, the testament to how strong Andrew was were the wind obs. It was one of the most well observed storms on land as far as obs go. Each quadrant of Andrew produced sustained 115+mph winds on land (measured) for substantial periods of time, even outside of the eyewall. No obs were able to be taken when the max winds were occurring obviously. For a hurricane to produce 115 mph winds (with 164+ mph gusts) outside of its RMW, it has to be severe. I'd venture to say Andrew is probably the second most intense hurricane observed to hit the United States, and I wonder if we will ever see a storm like it strike the US in our lifetimes again (Charley was the closest, but it still paled in comparison).

[Jinkers]

I'd venture to say Andrew is probably the second most intense hurricane observed to hit the United States, and I wonder if we will ever see a storm like it strike the US in our lifetimes again (Charley was the closest, but it still paled in comparison).

I certainly hope we never do

[DanKellFla]

Tamiami Airport...more than 10 miles inland had sustained winds of 127 mph before the instrument failed....and this readingd was reported about 20 min before the worst conditions hit. Cat 4/possible Cat 5 conditions occured in the area around the eyewall from biscayne bay at least as far inland as where the western areas meets the everglades. Since the 'strip' of developed land in south florida goes from the beach to maybe 15 miles inland, there is no reason why Cat 5 conditions couldn't hit all areas where the eye crossed over.

I think I read somewhere on this board that frictional effects make sustained Cat 3 winds more that a half mile inland unlikely. Pro Mets????

[vbhoutex]

Tamiami Airport...more than 10 miles inland had sustained winds of 127 mph before the instrument failed....and this readingd was reported about 20 min before the worst conditions hit. Cat 4/possible Cat 5 conditions occured in the area around the eyewall from biscayne bay at least as far inland as where the western areas meets the everglades. Since the 'strip' of developed land in south florida goes from the beach to maybe 15 miles inland, there is no reason why Cat 5 conditions couldn't hit all areas where the eye crossed over.

I think I read somewhere on this board that frictional effects make sustained Cat 3 winds more that a half mile inland unlikely. Pro Mets????

In some cases I am sure that is possible, but during Andrew IMO the conditions apparently were almost perfect for the mixing down of the strongest winds to the surface. That is shown by the many certified reports of same. Pro mets am I anywhere near correct? Are there certain conditions that make it more likely that the stronger winds will mix down to the surface as they obviously did during Andrew?

[jinftl]

The NHC office in Coral Gables (a few miles inland) reported sustained winds of 115 mph and gusts to 164 mph. Areas to the south.....and several miles inland from Biscayne Bay had even higher winds, so in this case, it seems almost a certainty that sustained Cat 3 winds and higher took place more than 1/2 mile inland.

The Homestead pics everyone knows from Andrew of block after block bulldozed were not along the immediate shoreline (not within 1/2 mile from the coast).

Tamiami Airport...more than 10 miles inland had sustained winds of 127 mph before the instrument failed....and this readingd was reported about 20 min before the worst conditions hit. Cat 4/possible Cat 5 conditions occured in the area around the eyewall from biscayne bay at least as far inland as where the western areas meets the everglades. Since the 'strip' of developed land in south florida goes from the beach to maybe 15 miles inland, there is no reason why Cat 5 conditions couldn't hit all areas where the eye crossed over.

I think I read somewhere on this board that frictional effects make sustained Cat 3 winds more that a half mile inland unlikely. Pro Mets????

[DanKellFla]

AHHHH NUTS!!! It should have read:

I think I read somewhere on this board that frictional effects make sustained <<HIGHER THAN>> Cat 3 winds more that a half mile inland unlikely. Pro Mets????

[jinftl]

Excerpt from NHC Report on Hurricane Andrew.... "the maximum sustained wind speed at Tamiami Airport (9 miles inland) significantly exceeded 105 kt (121 mph)". Sustained cat 4 winds begin at 131 mph....

"One of the most important wind speed reports came from Tamiami Airport, located about 9 n mi west of the shoreline. As mentioned earlier, routine weather observations ended at the airport before the full force of Andrew's (northern) eyewall winds arrived. However, the official weather observer there, Mr. Scott Morrison, remained on-station and continued to watch the wind speed dial. Mr. Morrison notes that around 0845 UTC (0445 EDT) the wind speed indicator "pegged" at a position a little beyond the dial's highest marking of 100 kt, at a point that he estimates corresponds to about 110 kt. (Subsequent tests of the wind speed dials observed at the airport indicate that the needles peg at about 105 kt and 108 kt, respectively). He recounts that the needle was essentially fixed at that spot for three to five minutes, and then fell back to 0 when the anemometer failed. Mr. Morrison's observations have been closely corroborated by two other people. He has also noted that the weather conditions deteriorated even further after that time and were at their worst about 30 minutes later. This information suggests that, in all likelihood, the maximum sustained wind speed at Tamiami Airport significantly exceeded 105 kt (121 mph)."

HURDAT analysis shows area of 130 kts + sustained winds north of eye extending several miles inland (around 25.6N 80.4W)....that's sustained winds of 150 mph!!!

[HurricaneJoe22]

A new Andrew video was added in this thread....

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