Tropical Storm — Escambia Coastal, Florida

2017-10-07 to 2017-10-08 · Escambia Coastal, Florida

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Nate quickly moved north northwest out of the northwest Caribbean Sea and across the Gulf of Mexico, making landfall near Biloxi, MS just after midnight on October 8th as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum winds of 85 mph. Nate quickly weakened as it moved inland across inland southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama and was downgraded to a tropical depression over central Alabama by 10am CDT on October 8th.

The main impacts to the western Florida Panhandle were from storm surge. In Escambia County, tide gauge information from Pensacola Bay indicate peak inundation of 3 feet above normally dry ground occurred along immediate coastal areas of the Pensacola Bay System. USGS data indicates a peak of 3 to 5 feet of inundation likely occurred at the immediate shore of the barrier islands. The greatest impact was to the Fort Pickens areas where part of the roadway was damaged. The road also had 3 feet of sand covering it with 4 feet of sand deposited on some of the parking lots. In addition, a portion of Highway 399 between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach was damaged.

In Santa Rosa County, peak surge inundation of 3 feet impacted areas along the coast of Escambia and East Bays. Peak surge inundation of 3 to 5 feet impacted areas along the immediate shore of Santa Rosa Island as well as along the shoreline of Santa Rosa Sound. Numerous piers were damaged.

In Okaloosa County, peak surge inundation of up to 3 feet was observed, but no significant damage was reported.

Peak wind gusts along the coast ranged from 50 to 60 mph. Pensacola Naval Air Station and Hurlburt Field measured a sustained tropical storm force wind of 40 mph and 39 mph respectively between 1 and 3 am on October 8th.

5 to 10 inches of rain was observed across the western Florida Panhandle, with the highest occurring in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Counties. This produced isolated instances of flash flooding in Okaloosa County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 724837. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.