Hurricane Irma Recap

Hurricane Irma was a powerful storm that brought coastal surge flooding, flooding rainfall and damaging winds stretching from the northern Leeward Islands to the Southeast U.S.

(MORE: Irma's Notable Extremes)

Irma was a long-track hurricane that began as a tropical wave off the coast of Africa. Irma became a tropical storm on August 30 and then underwent a period of rapid intensification that allowed it to reach major hurricane status, Category 3 or higher, on August 31.

Irma then plowed through portions of the Caribbean, bringing tremendous damage as a Category 5 hurricane. Hurricane Irma then made two landfall in Florida on September 10, one in the Keys and another one near Marco Island.

In addition, to the devastation that Irma brought, it also reached several notable extremes. Irma is one of only five hurricanes that have reached maximum sustained wind speeds of 185 mph or greater and it maintained those winds for 37 hours, the longest on record. Irma also tied the Cuba Hurricane of 1932 for the longest lifetime as a Category 5 in the Atlantic Basin.

Leeward Islands Suffer Catastrophic Damage

The Leeward Islands were pounded by Irma late Tuesday into Wednesday.

(MORE: Before and After Images of Hurricane Irma's Destruction in Barbuda and the Virgin Islands)

Irma's 185-mph winds made it the strongest hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands region, according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University. That beat out the Okeechobee Hurricane (1928) and David (1979), which both had 160-mph winds at their peak in the Leeward Islands.

Irma first passed over Barbuda, an island of 1,600 residents, with gusts of at least 155 mph overnight into Wednesday morning. A storm surge of about eight feet was also recorded.

Early Wednesday morning, the eye of Irma then moved over St. Martin, St. Barthelemy and near Anguilla, where sustained winds of 117 mph were measured.

(MORE: Irma Slams Caribbean)

Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain were reported in the Virgin Islands. A wind gust of 131 mph was reported at Buck Island, and a gust of 87 mph was measured on St. Thomas Wednesday, Sept. 6.

In addition, a 111-mph gust was reported on Culebra. 

Irma made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane late Friday night along the Camaguey Archipelago of Cuba. This is the first landfall of a Category 5 hurricane in Cuba since 1924, based on NOAA's historical hurricane tracks database. In Ciego de Avila, Cuba, Saturday morning, a wind gust to 159 mph was reported.

Florida Battered

Irma made two landfalls on Sunday, one in the Keys, and another near Marco Island in southwest Florida.

(MORE: The Most Unforgettable Moments of Irma)

According to the National Hurricane Center, the center of Irma crossed Cudjoe Key just east of Key West around 9:10 a.m. EDT Sunday, with maximum sustained winds at the time estimated at 130 mph and a central pressure of 929 millibars.

This is the first time on record two Category 4 landfalls occurred in the continental United States in the same hurricane season, much less within 16 days. 

The NWS office in Key West warned of "swaths of tornado-like damage" possible in the eyewall that hammered the Lower Keys early Sunday. Storm surge in Key West topped out around 3.3 feet.

A weather sensor on Big Pine Key east of Key West clocked a 120 mph wind gust around 9:38 a.m. Sunday.

A 91 mph gust was recorded at 7:55 a.m. at the NWS Office in Key West. Large trees were reported downed across from City Hall.

Wind gusts up to 109 mph were clocked in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale metro. A construction crane boom and counterweight collapsed over a building under construction in downtown Miami near Biscayne Boulevard.

Irma's center came ashore a second time in the Sunshine State at 3:35 p.m. Sunday in Marco Island as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph.

As the eyewall moved through Naples late Sunday afternoon, a wind gust to 142 mph was reported. A gust to 130 mph was clocked at the Marco Island Emergency Operations Center.

Storm surge at Virgina Key, in Biscayne Bay, was close to 4 feet above normal tides Sunday afternoon. At Naples, in the Gulf of Mexico, storm surge topped 4 feet above normal tides early Sunday evening.

Over 10 inches of rain triggered flooding that shut down a stretch of U.S. 1 in Ft. Pierce, Florida, Sunday, with water reportedly into at least one home and parked cars flooded.

(MORE: Why the Water Retreated From Florida Bays Before Irma's Storm Surge Arrived

Winds gusts up to 70 to 80 mph hammered the Orlando metro area early Monday. In the suburb of Pine Hills, residents were rescued early Monday morning when 24 homes were flooded with waist-deep water.

Winds gusted 80 to 90 mph at both Jacksonville International Airport and Mayport, downing multiple trees at the National Weather Service office.

Other notable wind gusts:

• Lely (Collier County): 122 mph
• North Perry Airport (Broward County): 109 mph
• Miami International Airport (tower observation): 99 mph
• St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant: 99 mph
• Cape Canaveral: 94 mph
• Key Largo: 92 mph
• Ochopee: 92 mph
• Coral Gables: 90 mph
• Fort Myers (Southwest Florida International Airport): 89 mph
• Marathon Key: 88 mph
• Deerfield Beach: 86 mph
• Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport: 84 mph
• Flagler Beach: 83 mph
• Miami NWS/NHC office: 81 mph
• Tampa Bay: 78 mph
• Clearwater Beach: 79 mph; sustained to 59 mph
• Sebring: 78 mph; sustained to 59 mph
• West Palm Beach International Airport: 77 mph
• Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport: 75 mph
• Jacksonville International Airport: 75 mph
• Port Charlotte (Charlotte County Airport): 74 mph

Alabama, Georgia, Carolinas Impacts

Among the hardest-hit areas on Monday was the metro Jacksonville, Florida, where the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood emergency for the St. Johns River Basin, including Jacksonville. 

A gauge on the St. Johns River near Main Street Bridge in Jacksonville has exceeded its previous record level, set during Hurricane Dora in 1964. At this level, extensive flooding of roads and structures occurs in that area. A storm surge of nearly 6 feet has been measured along the St. Johns River at the Interstate 295 bridge.

Evacuation zones A and B were urged by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to evacuate. Multiple swift water rescues have also been reported.

(MORE: Severe Flooding in Jacksonville)

Storm surge and heavy rainfall have also caused widespread flooding in the Charleston, South Carolina, but flooding is steadily decreasing along the coast of South Carolina.

The Charleston Harbor tide gauge topped the level reached there during Hurricane Matthew (2016), and also hit its third-highest mark on record.

(MORE: Coastal Flooding South Carolina)

Storm surge has also caused flooding along the Georgia coast, including on St. Simons Island and in Brunswick. Record flooding has been observed at the St. Simons Island Pier.

Strong winds have downed trees and power lines in parts of Georgia and South Carolina. Wind gusts have hit 64 mph in Atlanta and 61 mph in Macon, Georgia.