Tropical Storm — Coastal Dade, Florida

2005-09-20 · Coastal Dade, Florida

Wider weather episode

Rita formed from a tropical depression near the Turks and Caicos Islands on September 17th. She moved northwest and reached tropical storm strength in the central Bahamas, then turned west and passed through the Straits of Florida between Cuba and the Florida Keys becoming a category one hurricane south of the lower Keys. Rita continued to intensify as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico.The peak wind gust over the South Florida mainland during Rita was 58 mph measured at Miami Beach, while the peak wind gust over the Atlantic coastal waters was 64 mph at Fowey Rocks Light. Maximum sustained winds were 39 mph at Miami Beach and 58 mph at Fowey Rocks Light. ASOS-measured peak wind gusts include 55 mph at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 54 mph at Pompano Beach, and 49 mph at Miami International Airport. The minimum barometric pressure measured over the South Florida peninsula was 1008.0 millibar at Miami Beach.Storm total rain gauge measurements in the metropolitan areas of southeast Florida ranged mostly from one to three inches, with a maximum of 3.28 inches in Perrine. According to Doppler radar, much heavier rain fell over the Everglades, especially in a 20-mile wide band across extreme southwest Miami-Dade County and adjacent mainland Monroe County with estimates of more than 10 inches in that area. Flooding in the metro areas was very localized and mostly minor in nature, with the hardest hit areas in south Miami-Dade County that had also been flooded by Hurricane Katrina a month earlier.In conjunction with the normally high astronomical tides at this time of year and because the moon was full, the storm surge of 1.2 feet measured at Virginia Key caused some minor coastal flooding along sections of Miami Beach. The storm surge at Naples Pier was 1.5 feet and caused no known flooding. Beach erosion along the South Florida coasts was minor.There were no known casualties and only minor property damage. Electrical power was lost to about 126,000 customers, mainly in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, but mostly for a day or less.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5474507. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.