Idalia Banter

[Floydbuster]

6 hours ago, SnoSki14 said:

I could have told you that. It was pretty obvious this would be a minor event.

Small cane (low surge potential) that hit a sparsely populated area. Didn't matter how strong it got with the core of intense winds only being a few miles across without no major population centers nearby.  

Idalia reminded me a lot of Hurricane Dennis in 2005. Very small core, weakening at landfall in the Florida panhandle. In fact, Dennis made landfall with 115 mph winds (lowered from 120 mph operationally) and a pressure of 946 mb. 

I think Idalia may have been more in the 115-120 mph range at landfall, rather than the operational assessment of 125 mph. The pressure also rose to around 949 mb, similar to Dennis, and the surge was nasty and similar, but Dennis hit a more populated area of the Florida panhandle than Idalia struck. 

[dan11295]

Population density is a major factor for impact. Hurricane Bret (1999) is a classic example. 100 kt landfall in Kenedy County Texas (pop 400). Total damage $86 million.

[Pellice]

Aftermaths of hurricanes and tropical storms are intensely followed (literally) by birders checking for seabirds and tropical species somehow displaced by the storms.  But flamingoes after Idalia!  That was a new one!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/03/flamingos-all-over-east-coast-post-idalia/70738375007/  

gave some anecdotes from stunned birders, and Cornell University's Ornithology Lab had a more technical take on it:

https://birdcast.info/news/in-the-pink-american-flamingo-madness-in-late-summer-2023/

Flamingoes are rare and difficult to see even in southernmost Florida, and not typically one of the displaced species.  Much speculation about this widespread fallout to come.