THG's Hurricane Michael 2018 (WMHB)

Hurricane Michael was a powerful and catastrophic Caribbean-type hurricane, as well as the second-most intense landfalling hurricane on record, only behind the 1935 "Labor Day" hurricane in 1935. On October 4, 2018, an area of disorganized tropical thunderstorm activity associated with a broad area of low pressure. Conditions at the time were unfavorable, as a push of dry air from an upper-level trough was ingested into the disturbance. The disturbance became a tropical depression on October 5th, 2018, as shear and dry air relaxed, allowing further organization to take hold, after a couple days of slow development. By the next day, Michael suddenly intensified into a category 2 hurricane south of the western tip of Cuba. This sudden intensification caught western Cuba off guard, strengthening continued as it made landfall as a minimal category four hurricane in western Cuba. Michael made landfall and quickly developing an eye over Maria la Gorda. Thereafter, Michael emerged into the Gulf of Mexico, where it became an extremely powerful category five hurricane, attaining peak winds of 180 MPH (290 km/h), and a minimum central pressure of 896 mbar. On October 9th, hurricane Michael made landfall in Pensacola, Florida, after weakening slightly to 160 MPH. The worst impacted areas were Pensacola and Pensacola beach, in which most houses were completely wiped off their foundations and debris was tossed for hundreds of feet. After landfall, Michael slowly weakened due to the brown ocean effect and was still a category 2 hurricane over Luverne, Alabama. Afterwards, Michael rapidly weakened to a tropical storm and passed over multiple states until transitioning into an extra-tropical cyclone on October 11th over Ocean City, Maryland.

By October 14th, an estimated 96 fatalities had been attributed to the hurricane, including 22 in Cuba. Damages and insurance losses were estimated to be at least $23 billion (2018 USD), and Michael left over 350,000 people without power in Cuba as it landfalled as a category four hurricane. Many trees and homes were flattened in both Cuba, Pensacola, Florida and adjacent cities and beaches. A maximum wind gust of 187 MPH (300 km/h) was reported in Navarre, a small town on the outskirts of Pensacola, FL.