I will be making a 2023 Hurricane Season Review thread in the future. However, One storm deserved a thread of their own. The storm is Hurricane Idalia. Idalia was the hurricane with the most impacts and destruction in 2023.

Being a meteorologist on August 21st 2023 5 of the key models started to show a tropical low emerging in the Western Caribbean. Most of these models showed this low developing into a hurricane. I started to get concern because this low was over very warm water temperatures and there was no wind shear to tear the system apart.

On August 23rd 2023 all the models showed the tropical low becoming the next named storm which would be Idalia. What started to get me concerned was the models were no showing this low becoming a category 2 hurricane. A hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico or Western Caribbean is usually bad news for several reasons. First, unless they fade out they are more likely to make landfall. Second, the water temperatures in the Gulf and Western Caribbean are very warm providing fuel for hurricanes to strengthen. I started to talk about the potential for a hurricane in the Gulf on my facebook weather page. I also mentioned how some of the models were zooming in on Florida as a potential landfall.

On August 26th the tropical low was named tropical storm Idalia and started to show signs of becoming better organized. The models were still showing a category 2 hurricane. But me and other meteorologist started to talk about how Idalia could be stronger than the models were showing. What was uncertain was which part of Florida would it hit. The most concerning was Southwest Florida. An area of Florida that was decimated by Hurricane Ian in 2022.

Idalia soon became a hurricane and started to develop a tight core structure. The models started to adjust on their intensity. Now the models were showing a high end category 3 hurricane or a category 4 hurricane. This would make Idalia a major hurricane. In addition, also the models were starting to agree on landfall in Florida's Big Bend area.

As expected Idalia underwent rapid intensification. Early in the day of August 30th Idalia had winds of 100 mph making it a category 2 hurricane. By the end of the day Idalia would become a 130 mph category 4 hurricane. The powerful hurricane started to slowly move toward the Florida Big Bend area.

On August 31st Idalia made landfall as a high end category 3 hurricane near the town of Perry Florida. Idalia weakened a little bit before landfall due to undergoing an eye wall replacement cycle. In hurricanes an eye wall replacement cycle is when the storms around the eye wall collapse causing the hurricane to weaken some. In a few hours new storms develop and the hurricane restrengthens or increases in strength. As a category 3 hurricane Idalia was a major hurricane.

Thankfully, Idalia made landfall in a rural area. It would have been more catastrophic had Idalia made landfall 40 miles to the North or South were it made landfall. However, Idalia did serious damage in the town it came ashore in.

Idalia produced a destructive storm surge 10-15 feet and 125 mph winds near Perry Florida. After making landfall Idalia produced damaging winds farther inland. In fact, it caused flooding and wind damage in Georgia and South Florida. Eventually the storm emerged off the Carolina Coast and fizzled out.

As of January 2024 Idalia is believed to have caused $4 billion in damages and 10 deaths in the United States. Had Idalia made landfall 40 miles to the north or south Idalia could have easily caused over $20 billion in damages. One reason damage was lower than it could have been was Idalia made landfall in a rural area. It missed the major resort cities sparing them from landfall.

Idalia was the most destructive storm in the 2023 hurricane season. Despite an El Nino the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season had above average activity. Most of the storms stayed out to see though. In the spring the World Meteorological Organization will meet to discuss Hurricane names from the 2023 season to be retired.

If any storm is retired from 2023 it would be Idalia. Idalia is a storm that may or may not get retired. The reasons for retirement are it was destructive in the area it made landfall in. On the other hand at $4 Billion in damages it is not even close to the most destructive hurricanes. Retirement on hurricanes causing at least $4 Billion in damages to the USA have been mixed. Hurricanes Opal and Floyd caused similar damage and their names were retired. On the other hand Hurricanes Isaias, and Isaac caused similar damage and were not retired. Only the impacted country can request retirement.

Idalia is a name that has a 50/50 shot of being retired or not. If Idalia does get retired it would be the 15th I named storm to be retired. Currently 14 I storms have been retired. In summary, this concludes the Idalia post.