Tropical Storm — Coastal Duval, Florida
2023-08-30 · Coastal Duval, Florida
Event narrative
Tropical cyclone winds impacted the county on 8/30. Strong gusts of 40-60 mph were reported across the
county, with wind stress on the St. Johns River causing wave damage to the concrete railing at Memorial
Park on the St. Johns River in the Riverside area of Jacksonville. An abandoned building collapsed due to
wind stress at the intersection of 1st and Walnut Streets in downtown Jacksonville. At the time of the
collapse, wind gusts of 50-60 mph were reported across the county.
At 0500, the broadcast media reported a tree blown down on a home in Baldwin. At 0600, a mesonet site in
Jacksonville Beach measured a wind gust of 40 mph, then at 0640 the site had a gust of 44 mph. At 0650, a mesonet site at the JFRD Fire Station #40 near Mayport measured a gust of 45 mph. At 0652, the AWOS at
Mayport Naval Station (KNRB) measured a wind gust of 45 mph. The mesonet site at Neptune Beach
measured a gust of 43 mph at 0700. At 0707, a mesonet site at Huguenot Park had a gust of 43 mph. At
0720, the mesonet site at Jacksonville Beach had a gust of 49 mph. At 0727, the AWOS KNBB had a gust of
46 mph. At 0735, the AWOS at NAS Jacksonville KNIP had a gust of 44 mph. At 0737, the mesonet site at
Huguenot Park had a gust of 44 mph. At 0754, the mesonet site near Fort Caroline had a gust of 42 mph
(Buck Island). At 0822, the ASOS at Craig Executive Airport (KCRG) had a gust of 41 mph. At 0852, the AWOS
KNRB had a gust of 48 mph. At 0950, the mesonet site at JFRD Fire Station 40 had a gust of 61 mph. At 0950,
the mesonet site near Everbank Field had a gust of 40 mph. At 0952, the AWOS KNRB had a gust of 52 mph.
At 1007, the mesonet site at Huguenot Park had a gust of 55 mph, then at 1007 the site had a gust of 52
mph. At 1052, the AWOS KNRB had a 60 mph wind gust. At 1030, the mesonet site at Jacksonville Beach had
a gust of 54 mph. At 1030, the mesonet site near downtown Jacksonville had a gust of 41 mph at the WJCT
building. At 1042, the Huguenot Park mesonet had a gust of 50 mph. At 1050, the JFRD Fire Station 40 had a
gust of 62 mph. At 1053, KNIP on the St. Johns River had a gust of 55 mph. At 1057, the Huguenot Park
mesonet had a gust of 52 mph. At 1100, the mesonet at WJCT in Jacksonville had a gust of 48 mph. At 1125,
the mesonet site at the Terminal Channel had a gust of 40 mph. At 1125, the ASOS KCRG had a gust of 53
mph. At 1145, the ASOS KJAX at the Jacksonville International Airport measured a gust of 52 mph, and at
1148, a mesonet site near Fort Caroline had a wind gust of 40 mph. At 1150, the AWOS KVQQ at Cecil Field
on the Jacksonville Westside had a gust of 45 mph. At 1200, the mesonet site near Fort Caroline had a gust
of 46 mph. At 1234, the ASOS KJAX had a sustained wind of 39 mph with a gust of 60 mph. At 1254, the
mesonet site near Fort Caroline had a gust of 54 mph. At 1300, a river gauge site on the Buckman Bridge had
a gust of 40 mph. At 1319, the mesonet site near Fort Caroline Buck Island had a wind gust of 46 mph. At
1418, a mesonet site near Fort Caroline had a gust of 52 mph. At 1425, a 48 mph gust was measured at the
Terminal Channel mesonet site on the St. Johns River, then at 1429 the site had a gust of 50 mph. At 1430,
the mesonet site near Tallyrand had a gust of 41 mph. At 1430, the mesonet site at the Financial Ballpark in
Jacksonville had a gust of 45 mph. At 1430, the Tallyrand mesonet had a gust of 44 mph, then at 1436 the
site had a gust of 46 mph. The Everbank Field mesonet had a gust of 60 mph at 1440. At 1453, the ASOS
KCRG had a gust of 59 mph. At 1515, the public measured a wind gust of 49 mph about 2 miles WNW of Fort
Caroline. The mesonet site Buck Island measured a gust of 48 mph at 1534. At 1540, the mesonet site at
Everbank Field measured a gust of 62 mph. At 1550, the JFRD Station 40 measured a gust of 53 mph. AT
1600, the mesonet site about 2 miles south of Mayport measured a gust of 40 mph. A large tree uprooted.
and fell onto an RV along Sycamore St. A large tree snapped and fell on power lines in Jacksonville. A large
tree snapped along Rachel Creek in the Pecan Park area.
Wider weather episode
Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning August 30th around 745 AM EDT along the
Florida Big Bend near Keaton Beach as a category 3, with the inner core moving NE across the
Suwannee River Valley. The inner wind core of Idalia gradually weakened through the morning while,
heavily impacting Suwannee and Hamilton counties in NE Florida and Echols county SE Georgia as the
circulation tracked NE. Widespread tree, power line and structure damage occurred across Suwannee and Hamilton counties, with estimated winds of 80-100 mph based on damage surveys with isolated pockets of peak wind gusts near major hurricane strength. Outer rainbands on the eastside of Idalia
impacted all of SE Georgia and NE FL through the day, with early morning tornadoes across coastal SE Georgia and widespread tropical cyclone wind gusts through the day causing tree damage and powerline damage at least somewhere across NE Florida and SE Georgia. Measured gusts during the peak of the hurricane across the local forecast area were 60-80 mph. Flooding rainfall impacted locations in the direct path of the weakening inner core across the Suwannee River Valley and southeast Georgia,
especially from eastern Hamilton county toward Baxley and Jesup GA. The peak rainfall amounts were up to 5-8 inches. At least 3 tornadoes occurred in southeast GA as rainbands swept northwestward ahead of the hurricane.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1126913. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.