Dangerous September Hurricanes

 

Hurricane Rita, September 2005 (Source: NOAA)

The tropical Atlantic has gotten more active since the calendar turned to September following the quietest August since 1997.  There have been some intense and destructive Atlantic hurricanes over the last two decades in September, such as the following.

Hurricane Dorian (2019): Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas on September 1 as a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph.  That tied it with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, which made landfall in the Florida Keys, as the most intense landfalling hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean Basin.  It was the most intense based on wind speed and not air pressure.  Dorian’s minimum central air pressure of 910 millibars (mb) was the ninth lowest on record.  However, its maximum sustained winds of 185 mph tied it with Hurricane Gilbert (1988) and Hurricane Wilma (2005) for second highest wind speeds in an Atlantic hurricane.  Not only was Dorian the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the Bahamas, it was also a very slow moving storm that was both destructive and deadly.

Hurricane Irma (2017): Irma was another long-lasting Cape Verde hurricane that reached Category 5 intensity on two separate occasions.  At peak intensity, Irma had sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 914 mb (standard sea level air pressure is approximately 1,013 mb).  Irma left a deadly trail of destruction across much of the Caribbean and ultimately made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane.  It was the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Charley in 2004.  Ultimately, Irma killed dozens in the United States and did $59.5 billion in damages in 2022 dollars.  It ranks as the sixth costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, according to NOAA.

Hurricane Rita (2005):  Rita was the third of four Category 5 hurricanes that occurred during the record-setting 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.  It reached its peak intensity on September 21 with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum central pressure of 895 mb.  Rita remains the fourth strongest Atlantic hurricane on record behind only Wilma, Gilbert and the unnamed 1935 Florida Keys hurricane.  According to the National Hurricane Center, Rita weakened to Category 3 intensity with sustained winds of 120 mph before making landfall September 24 near the Louisiana and Texas state border.  Rita caused an estimated $27.2 billion worth of damages in 2022 dollars and ranks among the Top 15 costliest U.S. natural disasters.

Hurricane Isabel (2003): Once a Category 5 over the open Atlantic, Isabel made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane on September 18.  Isabel tracked west of Washington, D.C. as it weakened and brought the D.C. Metro Area a significant amount of heavy rain and gusty winds.  Over one million power outages were observed around the Nation’s Capital, with significant coastal flooding in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and in Annapolis, Maryland.   The highest tide in Annapolis reached 7.58 feet above normal, breaking the 1933 hurricane record.  Flooding in Georgetown occurred with flood stage reaching 11.3 feet above normal, which broke the 1933 hurricane surge record.