Terrifying videos from the 10th most intense hurricane to hit the U.S.
On this day in weather history, Atlantic storm, Michael, reached hurricane status.
This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.
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Hurricane Michael was a Category 5 hurricane that developed on Oct. 7, 2018. It was extremely powerful and destructive, breaking quite a few records. Michael was the third-most aggressive (in terms of pressure) Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the conterminous United States.
Michael was also the first Category 5 storm to hit the Florida Panhandle and the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. during October.
Mexico Beach. Courtesy of NOAA
The storm started from a broad low-pressure area in the southwestern Caribbean Sea on Oct. 1. By Oct. 7, the system turned into a tropical depression. The next day, Michael officially reached hurricane status.
The storm quickly strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico, reaching major hurricane status (Category 3 or higher) on Oct. 9. On Oct. 10, Michael reached Category 5 status and made landfall in Florida. The hurricane brought peak winds of 260 km/h to the area.
"Tall pine trees were denuded and snapped by Michael's extreme winds." Courtesy of Wikipedia
The storm weakened as it moved inland toward the Chesapeake Bay. By Oct. 11, Michael was downgraded to an extratropical cyclone while over southern Virginia.
By the time the storm dissipated, it had caused at least 74 deaths. The storm also caused around US$25.1 billion in damages.
Overall, Michael is the 10th most intense landfalling Atlantic hurricane (measured solely by central pressure).
On March 20, 2019, the World Meteorological Organization retired Michael from the Atlantic hurricane names lists. This was done mostly because of the loss of life it caused, specifically in the Florida Panhandle and Georgia.
To learn more about Hurricane Michael, listen to today's episode of "This Day In Weather History."
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