Tropical Storm in Far South Miami-dade County, Florida

Portions of South Florida experienced tropical storm conditions while Hurricane Ike passed across Cuba and the southwestern Gulf of Mexico during September 9th and 10th. The center of hurricane at its closest to mainland south Florida remained around 200 miles away as a category one with sustained winds around 75 MPH and a minimum central pressure of 970 MB. Tropical storm conditions were mainly felt across the far southern tip of the mainland and along the southwest coast including the counties of Miami-Dade and mainland sections of Monroe. The highest wind gust recorded was 63 MPH at Flamingo along with a sustained wind of 52 MPH. This occurred as a rain band swept across south Florida. In Miami-Dade County, the highest sustained wind occurred at Virginia Key at 41 MPH, and this occurred with a gust of 51 MPH. The Opa Locka Airport also reported tropical storm conditions with a sustained wind of 39 MPH along with a wind gust of 46 MPH. The wind caused around 6000 people to lose power during the storm in Miami-Dade County, but no impact of note occurred elsewhere.

Rainfall amounts where highest along the southwest coast in Collier and Monroe Counties with the highest rainfall totals ranging from 6.33 inches at Ochopee to 2.55 inches a few miles northeast of Golden Gate Estates.

Storm Surge associated with Ike was minimal across mainland south Florida with the highest reported at Naples. The highest storm tide in south Florida was 3.15 feet with a surge of 2.23 feet.

Hurricane Ike passed across Cuba and the southwestern Gulf of Mexico during September 9th and 10th producing tropical storm conditions in portions of south Florida. The system produced wind gusts of up to 63 MPH and generally around 6 inches of rain or less across the area.