Flood — Lake, Florida

2022-11-08 to 2022-11-10 · near Astor, Lake, Florida

Event narrative

Rainfall totals of 2-4 inches which fell between 0700EST on the 8th and 1500EST on the 10th led to generally nuisance type to minor street flooding across portions of Lake County. The St. Johns River at Astor, which was already in moderate flood stage due to the remnant effects of Hurricane Ian, experienced water level rises as early as the 8th due to increasing north to northeast winds impeding the river's flow. Renewed flooding was reported along numerous streets and communities along the river in Astor. At Deland, already in minor flood stage, river gauges recorded a rise into moderate flood stage on the 9th. A damage assessment provided by the county indicated a total of 44 residential and manufactured homes were affected in the area at a cost of approximately $1.4M.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Nicole made landfall near Vero Beach, Florida as a Category 1 Hurricane on Thursday, November 10, 2023 with estimated maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The system was originally classified as a subtropical storm after forming several hundred miles east of the Bahamas before it gained tropical characteristics as it approached Grand Bahama and Abaco Island. The interplay between Nicole and an expansive area of high pressure over the eastern United States produced a large wind field of tropical storm force over the western Atlantic, with a long northeast fetch that stretched over 1000 miles. These onshore winds generated very large seas in excess of 30 feet offshore, which over multiple unusually high tide cycles, led to moderate to severe beach erosion across east central Florida. Damage to coastal structures was extensive, particularly across Volusia County where an already weakened shoreline due to Hurricane Ian succumbed to the long-duration high surf event. Two indirect storm-related fatalities were reported in Orange County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.1755, -81.5519)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1067883. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.