Tropical Storm — Hardee, Florida

2001-09-14 · Hardee, Florida

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Gabrielle began to affect the Southwest Florida coast during the pre-dawn hours of September 14th with sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph along the coasts of Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Lee counties. By sunrise, high end tropical storm force wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph were common from the mouth of Tampa Bay south to Charlotte Harbor. Gabrielle continued to move northeast and made landfall, south of Venice, in Sarasota county, between 6:45 and 7:00 a.m. EST. The lowest sea level pressure observed with landfalling Garbrielle was 983.1 millibars at the Venice C-MAN site at 7:00 a.m. EST. At the Venice C-MAN site, a maximum wind gust of 73 mph from the northwest was observed at 9:00 a.m. EST as feeder bands on the storms northwest side began to move over southern Sarasota county. Although storm total rainfall amounts of 5 to 7 inches from Gabrielle were common across Southwest and parts of West Central Florida, a maximum storm total rainfall amount of 11.65 inches was reported in Palmetto in Manatee county.Maximum storm tides observed were around 6 feet near the mouth of the Peace River in Charlotte Harbor shortly after sunrise. Total damage across the 15 county area of Southwest and West Central Florida from Gabrielle was estimated to be nearly 17 million dollars.Gabrielle continued to move northeast across the Florida peninsula and was centered over central Polk county by mid afternoon of the 14th. Winds across West central and Southwest Florida subsided to below tropical storm force by late afternoon. However, wrap around western outer bands of Gabrielle continued to bring a second brush of low end tropical storm force wind gusts to Citrus, Sumter, Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough counties from 7 p.m. EST on September 14th, through 3 am EST on September 15th.In Lee county, tropical storm wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph and flooding caused up to 5.7 million dollars in damage. Most of the wind damage was caused to roof shingles, carports and lanais, mainly in the Cape Coral area. Flooding caused major damage to nearly 100 homes and another 500 incurred minor flood damage, mainly due to storm tides of three to four feet along coastal areas from Ft. Myers Beach to Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Islands from sunrise through 1 pm EST.In Charlotte county, tropical storm wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph were common from the barrier islands east into Charlotte Harbor where over one million dollars in damage was estimated from wind and flooding. Most of the wind damage occurred to mobile home roofs, pool cages and downed trees, from Englewood east to Punta Gorda. Flooding caused major damage to several homes along the north end of Gasparilla Island north to Englewood Beach. Also, flooding occurred in Charlotte Harbor and near the mouth of the Peace River due to mainly maximum storm tides of up to 6 feet around sunrise through late morning of the 14th.In Sarasota county, tropical storm wind gusts of 60 to 70+ mph were common along the barrier islands east to the Interstate 75 corridor. Over two million dollars in damage was estimated primarily from wind. Several homes from Englewood north to Venice and Osprey incurred roof, lanai and carport damage. Hundreds of trees and power lines were also downed throughout Sarasota county by the high end tropical storm force winds. A maximum storm tide, estimated at three to four feet, caused beach erosion and home flooding along Manasota Key, between Englewood and Venice in Sarasota County, as Gabrielle made landfall shortly after sunrise.In Manatee county, tropical storm force northerly wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph were common along the barrier islands east to the Interstate 75 corridor. A one to three mile wide swath of numerous downed trees extended from Palmetto south across east Bradenton to near the Sarasota - Bradenton airport. Most of the trees were blown down from north to south across the county. Ground and arial surveys indicated several alluvial downbursts mainly from Terra Ceia south across the western portion of Bradenton. Wind damage in excess of one million dollars was estimated due to mainly roofs of homes, lanais, carports and downed trees. Storm total rainfall of 8 to 10 inches was common which caused flooding to homes and business across most of Manatee county.In DeSoto and Hardee counties, storm total rainfall five to seven inches caused county-wide flooding to homes and business, estimated at up to five million dollars. Wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph were common throughout mid-morning to early afternoon of the 14th across Hardee and DeSoto counties where downed trees, minor roof and tile damage were common.In Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, northeast wind gusts of 50 to 65 mph were common across most of Tampa Bay and the southern portions of the counties. Storm tide values of up to three feet were common on the Pinellas county side (west) of Tampa Bay, from the Gandy Bridge south Point Pinellas. Most wind damage and flooding were minor across Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.In Pasco, Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties, tropical storm force winds of 40 to 50 mph, downed numerous trees and damaged several poorly constructed or weathered mobile homes across the four county area through the morning and late evening of the 14th.At least four, seperate and distinct, narrow sporadic tornadoes occurred with the outer spiral bands on the east side of Gabrielle. All tornadoes observed produced minor damage, were determined to be F0 category and occurred over rural portions of Lee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Manatee counties between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. EST.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5269207. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.