On This Day in 1985: Late Season Hurricane Kate Makes Landfall

Thirty-eight years ago, on this day in 1985, late season Hurricane Kate made landfall along the Florida Panhandle.

The origin of Kate is traced to a tropical wave that moved underneath a subtropical ridge of high pressure set up across the Southeast and southwest Atlantic. The wave began to gradually develop northeast of the Virgin Islands as it interacted with an upper-level low pressure system between November 13 and 14.

The system became a tropical storm by the time reconnaissance aircraft investigated the cyclone on November 15. As Kate accelerated to the southwest on November 16, it moved into a favorable upper environment for strengthening. The storm intensified into a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph as it moved westward through the southeast Bahamas.

Kate maintained itself as it moved across northern Cuba, only slightly weakening during its path over the isle. Kate resumed strengthening and became a major hurricane on the evening of the November 19 as it pushed northwest through the eastern Gulf of Mexico. At this time, its peak intensity reached maximum sustained winds of 120 mph

Kate continued to move northwest and accelerate as a cold front was approaching from the west. Kate maintained its recurve, crossing over cooler waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico and began to gradually weaken as southwesterly shear increased.

Kate made landfall as a weak Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph on the Florida Panhandle on the evening of November 21. Storm surge reached as high as 11 feet at Cape San Blas, Fla., while wind gusts to 78 mph and 8.32 inches of rain pounded Panama City, Fla.

The cyclone passed through the Southeast and emerged over the southwest Atlantic on the evening of November 21, as it transitioned to an extratropical low.

Hurricane Kate still holds several records in weather history. The Category 2 storm on November 21, 1985, is the strongest and latest to have impacted the Lower 48 states during any season.

The hurricane caused 15 fatalities and damage that is estimated to be around $2 billion in today’s dollar value. Despite the massive devastation from the Caribbean to Florida, the storm’s name was not retired from the repeating list of identifications used by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization.

---

Story Image: Hurricane Kate at peak intensity off the west coast of Florida on November 20, 1985. (NOAA via Wikimedia Commons)