The Anniversary of Hurricane Irma’s Cuban Landfall

(credit: Meteorologist Brian McNoldy)

DISCUSSION: With as busy as the tropical Atlantic hurricane season has now gotten here in September of 2018, it is almost crazy to contemplate what was going on just a little over one year ago.  More specifically, September 8, 2017, the heart of Hurricane Irma lashed out at the northern half of Cuba as a roaring Category 5 hurricane with sustained wind speeds along the immediate northern coastline in excess of 160 mph with even higher gusts at times. Moreover, look into this horrific tropical cyclone anniversary in even greater detail (courtesy of the Tweet from Meteorologist Brian McNoldy) this was the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall anywhere on the island of Cuba in a whopping 93 years. Thus, it goes without saying that this is not a common occurrence for Cuba by any stretch of the imagination. 

It also goes without saying that the majority of people across the United States and the world more so remember Hurricane Irma being one of the infamous trio of storms (i.e., the namely trio being Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria) which all went on to impact the United States and/or United States territories at some point during their respective existence. In addition, people also remember Hurricane Irma for being the storm which earlier on was thought to be more of a threat along the eastern coastline (i.e., the Atlantic-side) of Florida.  However, as the story went on to be written, Irma ultimately took a path towards northern Cuba and then up through the Florida Keys and on towards southwest and then western Florida before moving inland and dissipating before too long.

If nothing else, this 1-year anniversary of the landfall of what was a Category 5 Hurricane Irma in northern Cuba before moving on to the United States just goes to show that one storm can make all the difference in the world and to always be prepared regardless of the intensity of a given storm.

To learn more about other historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here!

© 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz