Tropical Storm — Inland Broward, Florida

2006-08-29 to 2006-08-30 · Inland Broward, Florida

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Ernesto moved across the Straits of Florida during the morning and early afternoon hours of August 29th, making landfall in the Upper Florida Keys around sunset, with a second landfall over far southwestern Miami-Dade County around midnight on the 30th. Ernesto moved north-northwest over the Everglades of South Florida during the overnight and morning hours of the 30th, then turned north and northeast over eastern sections of Hendry County during the midday, and passing over western portions of Lake Okeechobee during the early afternoon hours of the 30th. Ernesto is characterized as a minor tropical storm with little overall impact on South Florida, and no direct casualties were noted. There were two indirect deaths in Miami-Dade and Broward counties resulting from vehicle accidents.Maximum observed sustained winds were 42 knots (48 mph) at the C-MAN station in Fowey Rocks, with a peak gust of 50 knots (58 mph). Due to the higher than standard anemometer height at Fowey Rocks, a reduction to standard 10-meter elevation yielded a highest sustained wind of 37 knots (43 mph). Tropical storm force winds were confined to coastal sections along the Atlantic coast, as well as over Lake Okeechobee where South Florida Water Management District platforms LZ40 and L005 recorded maximum sustained winds of 35 and 34 knots (40 and 39 mph) respectively. Platform L005 recorded a peak gust of 51 knots (59 mph). The lowest sea-level pressure observed was 1004 mb in Opa-Locka, although estimated lowest pressures on Lake Okeechobee were 1003 mb. Coastal storm tides of around 1 foot above astronomical tide levels were observed on both Atlantic and Gulf coasts, with no beach erosion reported. Rainfall was heaviest over interior sections of South Florida, primarily over the Big Cypress National Preserve of Collier County where 48-hour storm total amounts ranged between 7 and 8 inches. Other rainfall amounts in excess of 5 inches were observed over the rest of interior South Florida including the areas around Lake Okeechobee. These rains caused the Fisheating Creek to overflow its banks at Palmdale in Glades County, and also resulted in some evacuation of homes. Flooding also occurred in portions of Collier County, especially near Golden Gate Estates and Immokalee, with no damage to structures reported.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5526038. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.