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Hurricane Isaias: By the numbers

Hurricane Isaias damage in Okaloosa County, Florida.
Okaloosa County Sheriff's Department
Hurricane Isaias damage in Okaloosa County, Florida.

Hurricane Isaias was the first hurricane to strike Florida in two years.

The cyclone officially made landfall in Okaloosa County near Destin as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph on Friday.

Impacts were felt hundreds of miles away, with tornadoes and flooding reported as far north as the mid-Atlantic.

Crews have already started to survey the damage and clean-up debris throughout the Florida Panhandle.

Track of Hurricane Isaias through the Gulf.
Track of Hurricane Isaias through the Gulf.

Here's an in-depth look at the hurricane by the numbers:

Number of fatalities: 4

Two deaths were reported by the governor of Florida. Both fatalities occurred in Escambia County. Officials said one person was killed by a falling tree, while the other died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Two deaths were also reported in Alabama by local authorities, with a falling tree and a traffic crash being responsible.

Causes of deaths during Hurricane Isaias.
Causes of deaths during Hurricane Isaias.

Greatest wind gust: 117 mph

Several wind gusts were reported above 100 mph, including a gust of 117 mph just outside Pensacola Beach. Multiple wind gusts reached into the triple digits, with the strongest gusts on the west side of the cyclone, which is a bit unusual.

The wind gusts on the western side of the cyclone resembled what is known as a "sting jet," when cooler, dense air rapidly drops towards the ground. Sting jets can be present when a hurricane transitions into an extratropical cyclone, and that was exactly what happened with Isaias.

East of the hurricane's official track, the greatest reported wind gust was only 91 mph, meaning the strongest winds did not reach the surface.

Number of Tornado Warnings: 26+

National Weather Service offices issued at least two dozen Tornado Warnings from Florida through South Carolina. The hardest-hit region appeared to be around the Georgia-South Carolina state line, where several confirmed tornadoes were reported.

The lack of a northward progression by a warm front helped to limit tornadic activity across the Sunshine State around the time of landfall. Florida accounted for a quarter of all the Tornado Warnings issued.

National Weather Service meteorologists will spend days surveying damage to determine how long the twisters were on the ground and their strength on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Hurricane Isaias Tornado Warning map.
Hurricane Isaias Tornado Warning map.

Heaviest rainfall: 11.56" in Mary Esther, Florida

Precipitation from the hurricane was rather limited due to dry air and the cyclone's fast forward speed.

Most reporting sites received between 2 and 6 inches of rainfall, with isolated heavier amounts.

The town of Mary Esther, located between Destin and Pensacola Beach, saw the greatest official rainfall tally of 11.56 inches.

A stationary frontal boundary that had been draped across the state for several days before Isaias made the flooding situation worse than if the region had only been solely dealing with the hurricane.

When the rainfall from the frontal boundary is combined with totals from the hurricane, many locations reported seeing between 10 and 20 inches of rain.

Estimated rainfall from from Oct. 9 to Oct. 11.
NOAA
Estimated rainfall from from Oct. 9 to Oct. 11.

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Andrew Wulfeck is a seasoned Digital Meteorologist and Content Producer with a robust background in broadcast news and digital strategy. Andrew's experience includes Fox Weather, CNN Newsource and First Coast News. Currently based in Jacksonville, Florida, he produces daily weather content across audio, video and digital platforms.
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