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How much storm surge did Naples, Florida suffer from Hurricane Milton?

Posted on by Kennedy
How much storm surge did Naples, Florida suffer from Hurricane Milton?

Hurricane Milton has left the state of Florida and that is a huge relief for everyone living in the Sunshine State. Reporting on the aftermath of the powerful storm, which was a Category 3 hurricane, is ongoing and that means we need to dig deep into the data.

We contacted the National Weather Service in Miami this morning. The NWS-Miami covers the Naples area in Collier County. Here's what they told us:

Hurricane Milton storm surge gauges

  • The tide gauge in Naples (Naples North Bay) reached a mean high water level (MHHW) of 5.08 feet on Wednesday evening (October 9) during the peak of Hurricane Milton's wave.
  • This exceeds the value (4.02 feet) observed during Hurricane Helene two weeks ago and Hurricane Irma (4.25 feet).
  • This is the second highest reading on the list after Hurricane Ian (6.18+ feet)*, which had the gauge fail before the peak of the storm surge.

Rainfall totals from Hurricane Milton

  • Rainfall Totals – Less than 2 inches during the duration of the Milton Passage. 6-8 inches widespread over the last seven days with isolated locally higher amounts, much of which fell during the heavy rain event off Milton.

Wind gusts from Hurricane Milton

  • According to the NWS-Miami website, some of the highest wind gusts recorded in Collier County from 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Thursday, Oct. 10 were 59 mph at the Collier County Emergency Operations Center, 58 mph per hour in Immokalee and 56 mph at the Naples Zoo.
  • All wind gust measurements can be found HERE.

Hurricane Milton Tornado Warnings/Watches

  • We cannot give you a state-specific total, but there were 55 tornado warnings issued for South Florida yesterday by NWS Miami and 126 tornado warnings issued by NWS offices throughout South Florida.
  • This was the highest number of tornado warnings our office has issued in a single day, surpassing the previous record of 49 during Hurricane Ian in 2022.
  • As for confirmed tornadoes, we are still in the process of conducting storm surveys, so we don't have a final number yet. We currently know of seven different storms that may have produced at least one tornado, and in some cases multiple tornadoes. The tornado warning was issued at 8:23 a.m. on October 9, 2024.

This story has been updated to add video.

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