Tropical Storm — Hamilton, Florida

2004-09-25 to 2004-09-27 · Hamilton, Florida

Event narrative

Hurricane "Jeanne"Hurricane "Jeanne" made landfall along the central Florida east coast, very near the location of Hurricane "Frances" some two weeks earlier. Like "Frances" this system moved west-northwest across central Florida and then northwestwards into southern Georgia. This motion once again brought the area into the periphery of the storm as north Florida and southeast Georgia experienced sustained tropical storm force winds with gusts to near hurricane force along the coast. Across the Suwannee Valley and portions of southeast Georgia sustained winds were higher than during "Frances" and rain once again resulted in flooding of many locations. The lowest local barometric pressure of 980.0 mb/28.94 in Hg was recorded in Ocala, Florida as the center moved to near the city. The lowest pressure readings across north Florida ranged from 980.0/28.94 in HG at Ocala Airport (KOCF) to 999.4 mb/29.51 in Hg at the National Ocean Systems (NOS) Tide Gage in Fernandina Beach, Florida. The lowest pressure readings across southeast Georgia ranged from 993.9 mb/29.35 in Hg at Douglas airport (KDQH) to 1001.4 mb/29.57 in Hg at Brunswick, Glynnco Airport (KBQK). Maximum sustained winds recorded were 48 knots/55 mph at the St. Augustine CMAN site (SAUF1) on the St. Augustine Pier. The peak gust was also recorded at SAUF1 with 65 knots/75 mph occurring on the 26th. Generally land stations (ASOS, AWOS III and mesonet stations) reported sustained winds of 30 to 50 mph with gusts of 40 to 60 mph. Tree blow down once again occurred in bands with roof and some structural damage with the most pronounced damage over the Suwannee Valley and southeast Georgia where "Frances" was not quite as severe. Most structural damage was associated with mobile homes and generally weakly constructed permanent structures. Several cases of large trees destroying manufactured homes were once again observed. One child was killed due to a tree fall.Wave heights of 20 feet were recorded across the coastal waters with tides running one to two and a half feet above astronomical tide levels on the open ocean. Tides three to four feet above astronomical occurred on the St. Johns River causing flooding in low lying areas. Extensive beach erosion once again occurred due to long duration of onshore winds both from "Jeanne" as well as a period of onshore flow preceding the event.Rainfall totals across north Florida and southeast Georgia generally ranged from 3 to 7 inches. The heaviest rainfall was once again over the Suwannee Valley and southeast georgia with Live Oak, Florida experiencing 10.88 inches of rain. Due to the already saturated conditions, sheet flooding, river flooding and road washouts again occurred with this event with Live Oak and southeast Georgia hard hit. Most rivers in the region returned to to flood stage and portions of Interstate 10 were again closed due to flooding.Tornadoes occurred across the coastal region; however, the tornado outbreak was not as extensive as with "Frances." The banded nature of the Tropical Storm wind damage again made it very difficult to differentiate between wind damage and tornado damage in subsequent storm damage surveys. No fatalities or injuries are believed to have occurred due to tornado touchdowns.Overall tree blow down, power outages and roadways blocked by trees were reported in most areas. In the heavy rainfall areas many dirt and secondary roads were once again left impassable.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5420347. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.