UPDATE: Hurricane Ian was upgraded by the NHC to a category 5 in post analysis. The reality is it doesn't matter, but I do plan on making a V2 for this animation to account for the upgrade ---------------- Hurricane Ian was a catastrophic storm for parts of Florida. The storm started off as a tropical wave that moved through the Lesser Antilles. The wave became a tropical depression and eventually tropical storm Ian south of Hispaniola. Intensification was slow at first due to wind shear, but Ian began quickly intensifying after it moved south of Jamaica. Ian turned northward and began rapidly intensifying, become a hurricane and eventually a major hurricane as it struck Cuba early on September 27th. Ian did not weaken much over Cuba, and it moved over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and started turning east. Ian began another rapid intensification phase during the early hours of September 28th, when the storm reached maximum intrensity with winds of 155 mph and a pressure of 936 mb, a high end category 4 on the saffir-simpson scale. It is possible that Ian briefly reached category 5 status, and we will have to wait and see what the NHC says in their post analysis. Regardless, Ian hit Southwestern Florida later that afternoon, near Fort Myers, having only weakened slightly from it's peak. Ian moved through Florida and weakened. The storm re-emerged off the space coast the next day as a tropical storm. The storm then started moving quickly to the north-northwest, approaching the Carolinas. A combination of warm SSTs and a favorable interaction with a trough allowed Ian to re-intensify into a category 1 hurricane and rapidly grow it's wind field as it made landfall near Myrtle Beach on September 30. Ian quickly weakened as it moved inland. Ian's impacts in Florida were catastrophic. Large areas experienced significant wind damage, and a storm surge of 15-18 ft impacted Sanibel island and parts of the coast. Rainfall exceeded 20 inches in areas, prompting flash flood emergencies. Parts of the Sanibel Causeway, which is the only bridge connecting Sanibel Island and the Florida mainland were washed away. The true impact of Ian still remains unclear as of October 8th, 2022. Current reports indicate that at least 137 people have died, and the storm likely caused over 50-60 billion dollars in damages. People still remain missing. NOTE: I chose to use official analysis to make this animation. After the absolutely childish response from many people in the scratch hurricane community after hurricane Iota's downgrade, I have decided to only use official reports for storms in the Atlantic and Eastern/Central pacific. The NHC is a very good source, and there's absolutely no reason to deviate from what they have to say. If one person says its a cat 4, and the other says its a cat 5, it simply causes confusion among people who aren't hurricane enthusiasts. If the NHC makes any major changes during the post analysis of the storm, I will make a version 2 of the animation. Also, please refrain from debating about the storms intensity in the comment section, that is insensitive and inappropriate when there's people who's lives have been turned upside down by this storm. A few months down the road, maybe we can debate if it was a cat 5, but now's not the time. Focus on the impact, not a 5 mph difference in the storms wind speed. - Tags:
