Hurricane (Typhoon) — Inland Escambia, Florida

2005-07-09 to 2005-07-10 · Inland Escambia, Florida

Wider weather episode

For the second time in less than a week, and the third time in two months, the area was threatened by a tropical event. Major Hurricane Dennis impacted portions of the area during the day and evening of July 10th. The storm made landfall around 130 PM CST as a category three hurricane near Navarre Beach in Santa Rosa county. Dennis then moved north northwest across Santa Rosa and northeast Escambia county in Florida. The weakening storm then moved across the west part of Escambia, the south part of Monroe, the east part of Clarke and the northeast part of Choctaw counties in Alabama. Dennis had a very small eye and winds around the eyewall of the storm caused significant damage as the storm moved north. An aerial survey of the damage showed a five to ten mile wide area of destruction, with most of the damage east of the eye of the storm. As Dennis moved north into Alabama the damage diminished and was confined to a smaller area. A lot of the damage looked like a giant tornado, except the trees were all facing in the same general direction. Coastal counties across the area from Mobile to Destin were put under a Hurricane Watch at 300 PM CST on July 8, then a Hurricane Warning at 300 AM CST on July 9. An Inland Hurricane Warning was issued for most of the inland counties in Alabama at 436 PM CST on July 9. Parts of southeast Mississippi were added to the warning during the early morning hours of July 10. Most of the warnings were dropped at 900 PM CST on July 10 as Dennis weakened as it moved inland.Some of the wind reports from across northwest Florida on July 10 were as follows: Pensacola Regional Airport, sustained wind of 66 knots with peak gust of 81 knots. Pensacola Naval Air Station, sustained wind of 39 knots, peak gust 50 knots. Pensacola (WEAR-TV), peak gust 46 knots. Valpariaso (Eglin Air Force Base), sustained winds of 48 knots, peak gust of 72 knots. Destin airport, sustained winds of 49 knots, peak gust 64 knots. Crestview, sustained wind of 37 knots, peak gust 50 knots. Navarre, peak gust of 105 knots. Pensacola (near airport), peak gust 83 knots. Destin (near airport), peak gust 70 knots. Pace, peak gust 92 knots. Pensacola (southeast of airport), peak gust 88 knots. Some of the wind reports across southwest Alabama on July 10 were as follows: Mobile Regional Airport, sustained wind of 32 knots, peak gust of 42 knots. Dauphin Island, sustained wind at 42 knots, gust to 57 knots. Mobile Bay (USS Alabama), peak gust 67 knots. Some of the lowest sea level pressures recorded with Dennis on July 10 were as follows: Pensacola Regional Airport, 956.6 MB. Valpariaso (Eglin Air Force Base), 986.1 MB. Pensacola Naval Air Station, 976.6 MB. Mobile Bay (USS Alabama), 987.8 MB. Mobile Regional Airport, 990.5 MB. The highest 48 hour rainfall totals associated with Hurricane Dennis: In Florida: Pensacola (WEAR) 7.67 inches. Pace, 6.90 inches. Milton, 7.01 inches. Munson, 6.93 inches. Niceville, 5.15 inches. In Alabama: Bay Minette, 4.65 inches. Butler 4.36 inches.The highest storm tides from Dennis occurred at: Pensacola with 5.50 feet. Santa Rosa Sound with 5.00 feet. Destin with 4.60 feet. Perdido Pass with 4.10 feet. Pace with 3.5 feet. A storm survey measured 6-6.5 feet on Navarre Beach. Since the eye of Dennis was very small, the highest surge values were near and just to the right of the eye of the storm. Some higher surge values occurred well east of Destin before Dennis moved ashore.Major beach erosion occurred from Pensacola Beach to east of Destin. Minor beach erosion occurred from Dauphin Island to Orange Beach. Major flash flooding occurred along and east of the center of Dennis during the afternoon and evening of July 10 across northwest Florida and southwest Alabama. As Dennis moved inland, tornado like damage occurred near the eyewall of storm. Almost every structure located on Navarre Beach suffered some kind of damage. The structures that were located on the beach front all suffered damage. The Air Force bases at Eglin and Hurlburt reported over a half billion dollars in damage from Dennis. Almost 200 homes in northwest Florida reported major damage. Part of U. S. Highway 98 between Fort Walton Beach and Destin in Okaloosa county were again washed out by high water. The west bound lanes were damaged by the surge but the east bound lanes were okay. It was also estimated that most of this years cotton crop in northwest Florida was damaged.No direct deaths were reported with Dennis, but three indirect deaths were reported. Two died from Carbon Monoxide poisoning in Escambia county Florida and one from electrocution in Escambia county Alabama. All of the deaths were related to the improper use of emergency generators.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5463839. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.