How Does Nicole Compare ?

 

Hurricane Nicole Keeps Rare Company (Source: WUSA9)

Nicole made landfall near Vero Beach on Florida’s Atlantic Coast on Thursday, November 10, as a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph.  It was the first November hurricane to make landfall along Florida’s east coast since 1935.  It will take weeks, if not months, to calculate Nicole's damage and death toll in the United States.  Let’s take a look at the three other tropical systems that were stronger than Nicole at the time of their November landfalls.

Kate (1985):  Kate reached peak intensity on November 20 in the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 953 millibars (mb).  Kate weakened to Category 2 status with sustained winds of 100 mph before its landfall near Mexico Beach on the Florida panhandle on November 21.  That made it the latest landfalling hurricane on record in the contiguous United States.  Kate was also the fourth hurricane to impact the U.S. Gulf Coast during the 1985 season along with Danny, Elena and Juan.

1935: Tropical storms and hurricanes didn’t start to receive names until the 1950s.  They were often given nicknames prior to that based on either where they developed or made landfall.  A late-season hurricane dubbed the “Yankee Hurricane of 1935” or “Miami Hurricane of 1935” developed near Bermuda.  It took a highly unusual track and went west and south over the Gulf Stream.  The warm waters of the Gulf Stream helped it reach peak intensity as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 mph and a minimum pressure of 964 mb. 

It made landfall near peak intensity with 100 mph sustained winds in Miami-Dade County, Florida on November 4.  Since Florida was sparsely populated and relatively undeveloped at this point in history, the damage and death toll wasn’t what it would be had a similar system made landfall today.  This hurricane made landfall barely two months after the infamous Category 5 hurricane on September 3 that devastated the Florida Keys.

1861: A late-season hurricane developed and reached peak intensity as a Category 1 storm with 80 mph sustained winds and a minimum air pressure of 985 mb.  That’s remarkably similar to Nicole’s peak intensity earlier this week.  This unnamed hurricane made landfall in North Carolina near peak intensity.