Hurricane Jose (2023)

Hurricane Jose was a very dense category 1 hurricane that caused historic flooding along the Florida Panhandle. It formed from a long tracked Tropical Wave originally invested on October 5. Due to the storm stalling in the Gulf of Mexico, this caused several feet of rain all around the Florida Panhandle. Due to Jose's impact, it was retired.

Formation
On October 5, a Tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa. Initially expected to rapidly develop into a rare October Cape Verde hurricane, shear in the area inhibited development. As the invest tracked toward the Bahamas, it finally began to spark some convection. On October 11, the storm began to spin, and hurricane hunters flew in, but could not find a closed circulation. As the storm passed over Puerto Rico on the morning of October 13, a closed circulation was found, and the NHC began issuing advisories on Tropical Depression Ten that day. The evening, it reached 40 mph, and was named Jose.

Terror and Flooding
As Jose neared the Bahamas, somewhat favorable conditions allowed for intensification. On October 15, Jose made landfall south of Jacksonville, Florida as a 70 mph Tropical Storm. It crossed over Florida rather quickly, and failed to weaken much as a result. Conditions in the Gulf of Mexico proved favorable for intensification. Jose intensified, and became a hurricane late on October 15, when an eyewall was located, and 75+ mph winds were observed. As Jose continued to drop in pressure, many meteorologists feared a major hurricane landfall along the panhandle. However, for unknown reasons, Jose failed to intensify beyond 90 mph, despite the pressure was still dropping. Steering currents were lacking in the Gulf at this time, causing Jose to remain nearly stationary, causing record high rainfall in the Panhandle. The storm peaked on October 17, with 90 mph winds and a pressure of 959 millibars.

Landfall and Dissipation
Finally, on the morning of October 18, Hurricane Jose made landfall on the Florida Panhandle, as a 75 mph hurricane. The storm began to weaken very quickly, and was declared post tropical that night. However, the NHC continued to track the remnants until they lost all organization. The remnants were last spotted somewhere over New York. In the incident, Jose caused 954 fatalities and $24.5 billion in damage.

Caribbean
Jose impacted this area mostly with its outer bands, which is why damage was very limited here. A majority of land impact was through rain and 30 mph winds. There was no considerable damage here, and 1 fatality resulted here due to rip currents.

Bahamas
The Bahamas sustained some damage from Jose, which at the time was a moderate Tropical Storm. Wind gusts to 70 mph were recorded, and some flooding occurred along the islands. Several buildings were also severely damaged. In this area, Jose caused $500 million in damage and 11 fatalities.

Florida & Florida Panhandle
The Panhandle took a direct hit from the powerful Hurricane Jose. As stated before, record rainfall resulted in catastrophic flooding. Over 500,000 people lost their homes, and over 900 people lost their lives. As the storm moved inland, a storm surge added more water to the already high floodwaters. Many people were forced to stand on the roof of their house to call for help, and many veterans compared the disaster to that of Hurricane Katrina. The floodwaters remained over a week after the storm dissipated, and finally fully retracted by October 28. about $23 billion in damage and 942 fatalities occurred in this area.

Retirement
Due to it's impact, Jose was retired in the spring of 2024. It will be replaced with Jack in the 2029 season.