Hurricane Andrew: A look back

 

Hurricane Andrew, August 1992 (Source: NOAA)

“Andrew” will forever remain in infamy among Atlantic hurricanes. Monday, August 24 will be the 34^th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew’s landfall in south Florida as a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 165 mph leaving unspeakable devastation in its path.

Hurricane Andrew was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history at the time and caused roughly $60.5 billion in damages (2024 dollars). Andrew had a relatively compact size and fast rate of speed as it traveled across south Florida. Its track south of Miami near Homestead, in combination with its relatively small wind-field (circumference of hurricane force winds), largely spared downtown Miami any significant impacts. That was fortunate since Andrew could have caused even more casualties than the 65 fatalities that occurred had its past moved northward.

Hurricane Andrew occurred prior to the very active 1995 Atlantic hurricane season that represented a return to an active Atlantic hurricane cycle that’s continued ever since. Prior to that, during the bulk of the 1970s through the early 1990s, the tropical Atlantic experienced many below average hurricane seasons.

When Andrew made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane in 1992, it became only the third on record at the time to make landfall in the United States (along with the 1935 Florida Keys storm and Hurricane Camille in 1969). Not only was Hurricane Andrew significant for its rare intensity at time of landfall, but also for when it occurred. Florida’s coastal development and population had increased significantly since the 1970s and 1980s when there were few direct impacts from tropical cyclones.

Parallels exist between the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season and this season. A strong episode of El Nino helped suppress hurricane development during the 1992 season. The current episode of El Nino is expected to be even stronger than that one was. Consequently, NOAA expects this to be a below average hurricane season.