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Hurricane Irene (1999)

Hurricane Irene was a Category 2 hurricane at its peak, with 109 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 958 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 8 of the cities we track; the strongest was Miami, FL, with a modeled peak gust of 78 mph.

Peak strength109 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 2
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
8
LandfallsFirst October 14, 1999
4
Lowest pressure
958 mb

Track, wind field and cities

Select a piece of the track or a city for details.

  • Depression or weaker
  • Tropical storm
  • Hurricane, Category 1 or 2
  • Major hurricane, Category 3 to 5
  • Landfall
  • City (larger ring, stronger modeled gust)
  • Modeled wind field, 39 to 111 mph sustained (darker, stronger; orange 111 mph+)
Source: NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center best track (HURDAT2). City winds and the wind field are modeled.

The shaded areas are where our model puts Hurricane Irene’s sustained winds over open land at 39 mph or more (tropical-storm force), 58, 74 (hurricane force) and 111 mph (major hurricane force) at some point along its track. Modeled, not measured. How we model hurricane winds

Landfalls

  1. October 14, 1999, tropical storm at 69 mph, in Cuba
  2. October 14, 1999, tropical storm at 69 mph, in Cuba
  3. October 15, 1999, Category 1 at 75 mph, about 108 miles from Naples, FL
  4. October 15, 1999, Category 1 at 81 mph, about 65 miles from Miami, FL

Modeled winds at cities (8)

Estimated peak winds for open, flat ground at each city’s center. Not measurements. How we model hurricane winds

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Miami, FL78 mph64 mph32 milesOct 15, 1999, 5:45 PM EDT
Port St. Lucie, FL69 mph56 mph14 milesOct 16, 1999, 6:45 AM EDT
Palm Bay, FL64 mph52 mph36 milesOct 16, 1999, 7:45 AM EDT
Naples, FL63 mph51 mph67 milesOct 15, 1999, 3:45 PM EDT
Wilmington, NC61 mph50 mph61 milesOct 17, 1999, 7:45 PM EDT
Myrtle Beach, SC54 mph44 mph73 milesOct 17, 1999, 6:45 PM EDT
Charleston, SC53 mph43 mph71 milesOct 17, 1999, 1:45 PM EDT
Cape Coral, FL51 mph41 mph94 milesOct 15, 1999, 3:45 PM EDT

What happened

After crossing western Cuba as a tropical storm, Irene became a hurricane, and its center moved over Key West near 1300 UTC (9 a.m. EDT) on October 15, 1999, with winds of 65 knots (75 mph).1 It made landfall again near Cape Sable at 2000 UTC (4 p.m. EDT) with winds of 70 knots (81 mph), crossed southeast Florida, and moved back over water near Jupiter in northern Palm Beach County shortly after 8 p.m. EDT.1 Most of the hurricane-force winds stayed over the lower and middle Florida Keys, where Big Pine Key recorded sustained winds of 69 knots (79 mph) and a gust of 89 knots (102 mph).1 Southeast Florida mostly had tropical storm winds.1

Irene dropped 10 to 20 inches of rain across southeast Florida, including 14.57 inches at Homestead, 13.38 inches at Fort Lauderdale International Airport and 10.99 inches at Miami International Airport.1 Flooding lasted a week in some residential areas and displaced several hundred people.1 Four weak tornadoes touched down in Broward and Palm Beach counties, and tornadoes injured three people in Broward.1 NHC estimates about $600 million in property and agricultural damage, mostly in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, and about $200 million more in the rest of Florida.1 NHC lists eight indirect deaths in Florida, five by electrocution and three in vehicles that drove into canals.1

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Preliminary Report: Hurricane Irene, 13 to 19 October 1999

Best track (34 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Oct 12, 12:00 UTCLow23 mph1006 mb15.9°N, 82.0°W
Oct 12, 18:00 UTCLow23 mph1006 mb16.4°N, 83.0°W
Oct 13, 00:00 UTCLow23 mph1005 mb16.7°N, 83.2°W
Oct 13, 06:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1004 mb17.3°N, 83.3°W
Oct 13, 12:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph1003 mb18.5°N, 83.4°W
Oct 13, 18:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1001 mb19.8°N, 83.6°W
Oct 14, 00:00 UTCTropical storm63 mph999 mb20.7°N, 83.6°W
Oct 14, 06:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph999 mb21.0°N, 83.6°W
Oct 14, 12:00 UTC (landfall)Tropical storm69 mph997 mb21.3°N, 82.9°W
Oct 14, 18:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph995 mb22.4°N, 82.4°W
Oct 14, 19:00 UTC (landfall)Tropical storm69 mph986 mb22.7°N, 82.5°W
Oct 15, 00:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph988 mb23.1°N, 82.6°W
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