Tropical Storm — Coastal Manatee, Florida

2017-07-31 · Coastal Manatee, Florida

Event narrative

Tropical Storm Emily formed on the tail-end of a slow moving frontal boundary that was draped across the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. A weak area of low pressure developed on the 30th and slowly drifted southeast towards the Florida peninsula. Early in the morning on the 31st, satellite and radar data indicated that a tropical depression had formed about 65 miles west of Tampa Bay. The system became a tropical storm shortly before landfall just a few hours later. Emily made landfall on Anna Maria Island at 10:45 AM with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and a minimum central pressure of 1005 mb.

Coastal Manatee County observed the brunt of the damage from Tropical Storm Emily. The highest wind gust recorded was 63 knots by a home weather station which may have been associated with a brief tornado. Numerous other home weather stations recorded wind gusts in the 35-45 knot range across the county. Flooding was a major issue in Manatee County as water flowed above sidewalks in several neighborhoods, causing street closures throughout the day. Widespread 4-6 inch rainfall totals were observed.Also, some trees and power lines were downed across the area mainly where the center of the storm came onshore.

Wider weather episode

Emily was a small system and it's effects were very localized across the region. It produced one tornado along the Manatee county coast and wind gusts were observed in the 40 to 65 mph range across Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota Counties. Emily produced areas of 4-6 inches of rain across portions of west central Florida.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 705848. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.