Hurricane Tobias (2016 MG)

Hurricane Tobias was the strongest hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season. It was notable for many feats, including becoming the strongest Atlantic hurricane since 2007's Felix, and for ending Florida's hurricane drought.

Formation
On October 27, the NOAA noticed a depression had formed somewhere west of the Antilles, despite formation was not expected there. It slowly made it's way eastward strengthening along the way. It reached tropical storm status on October 31 and was named Tobias. Soon after, a tropical storm warning was issued in the eastern caribbean.

Hurricane Status
Tobias eventually weakened to a depression west of Puerto Rico. while Tobias was forecast to dissolve there, it intensified into a tropical storm again and continued heading east, bringing 65 mph winds and some storms to Puerto Rico. As it curved north of the Bahamas, it reached hurricane intensity with 80 mph winds. Tobias once again defied the forecast by curving towards Florida instead of heading up the east coast.

The Terror Begins
Tobias began to rapidly strengthen as it approached Florida, absorbing Tropical Storm Virginie on the way there, and reaching category 5 status on November 3. It would strike Florida at peak intensity in the early hours of November 4, bringing an abrupt end to Florida's hurricane drought. It moved upward through the state, bringing 140 mph winds and rain with it. As it exited florida and curved into Georgia, it never dropped below category 2 status. Many scientists say this could be the rare brown ocean effect causing Tobias to keep strength over land. It eventually returned to sea as a category 1 hurricane and was forecast to head out to sea and dissipate.

Second Landfall & Dissipation
Tobias would defy the prediction a final time and turned north towards Halifax. It made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane and made it's way through the penninsula, weakening to a tropical storm as it weaved through. 50 mph winds and rainfall came to Newfoundland as Tobias exited land for the final time. It then churned in the open atlantic for a few days before finally dissipating near the Azores.

Impact
The entire east coast was affected by Tobias in one way or another. Florida however, was destroyed.

Florida
Florida had been slammed by two hurricanes at the same time. Walter to the east, and Tobias to the west. Tobias did much more damage, however. While Walter passed parallel to the coast, Tobias moved up through the entire state. Several major cities were destroyed, including Cape Canaveral and Jacksonville. Several parts of florida were also severely flooded. Billions of dollars in damage and about 200 deaths (specifically Tobias) were traced to the storms.

Georgia
Georgia was also heavily impacted, but not to Florida's scale. Georgia had to face constant category 3 wind force and heavy rainfall. The most major impacts were the destruction of Atlanta, and lots of flooding on the coast. After Tobias moved out, the floodwater moved back out to sea, and two people were killed by the rip currents.

Carolinas
The Carolinas got lucky. They only had to deal with strong waves (of about 20 feet) on the coast. Only minor flooding occurred and there was one fatality.

NY, Canada, and Newfoundland
New York had to deal with Tropical Storm-force winds of around 45 mph and moderate rainfall. Eastern Canada was hit hard by the category 2 Storm. Several buildings suffered severe damage and there was some minor flooding. Newfoundland had a similar situation to NY, but the storm had weakened by then. Only 35 mph winds and minor rainfall affected them.

Retirement
Due to it's extreme impact on the east coast, the name Tobias was officially retired, and was replaced with Travis in the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season.