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Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical ... The storm's large wind field resulted in strong ... NOAA released map-format aerial ...
Hurricane Irma was the costliest tropical cyclone in the history of the U.S. state of Florida, before being surpassed by Hurricane Ian in 2022. Irma also was the first major hurricane [nb 1] to strike the state since Wilma in 2005 and the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Charley in 2004.
By this time, the NHC anticipated Irma would maintain its intensity before making landfall in the state of Florida later that day. In addition, Irma's wind field continued to increase in size, with hurricane-force winds spanning out a region of 80 mi (130 km) and gale-force winds spanning 220 mi (350 km) in diameter. [17]
With Irma set to become the second hurricane to hit the United States in as many weeks, Florida emergency management officials began evacuations, ordering tourists to leave the Florida Keys.
The Hurricane Severity Index (HSI) is another scale used and rates the severity of all types of tropical and subtropical cyclones based on both the intensity and the size of their wind fields. [34] The HSI is a 0 to 50 point scale, allotting up to 25 points for a tropical cyclone's intensity and up to 25 points for wind field size. [34]
Other Atlantic storms with high ACEs include Hurricane Ivan in 2004, with an ACE of 70.4, Hurricane Irma in 2017, with an ACE of 64.9, the Great Charleston Hurricane in 1893, with an ACE of 63.5, Hurricane Isabel in 2003, with an ACE of 63.3, and the 1932 Cuba hurricane, with an ACE of 59.8. [16]
A Category 5 Atlantic hurricane is a tropical cyclone that reaches Category 5 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, within the Atlantic Ocean to the north of the equator. They are among the strongest tropical cyclones that can form on Earth, having 1-minute sustained wind speeds of at least 137 knots (254 km/h; 158 mph; 70 m/s).
Despite the weakening, the storm's expansive wind field caused significant damage across east central Florida. A tornado outbreak produced at least 19 confirmed tornadoes, and hurricane-force ...