One-time monster Hurricane Irma has weakened to just a remnant circulation over Alabama but has left behind a plethora of astonishing weather records and statistics.

Below are some of the most stunning numbers that help quantify the magnitude of this storm and its impact, from the eastern Atlantic Ocean to Florida to Georgia and South Carolina.

16 million

The number of customers potentially without power in the Southeast, the most of any hurricane on record, doubling the 8.1 million in Superstorm Sandy. The 15 million outages in Florida represents three-quarters of its population.

Totals by state:

15 million outages in Florida

800,000 outages in Georgia

Advertisement

270,000 outages in South Carolina


142 mph

The peak wind gust in Naples, Florida.

Other top gusts in the United States:

Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands: 131 mph

Marco Island, Florida: 130 mph

Big Pine Key, Florida: 120 mph

Advertisement

Culebra, Puerto Rico: 111 mph

Miami International Airport: 99 mph

Key West, Florida: 94 mph

Cape Canaveral, Florida: 94 mph

Key Largo, Florida: 92 mph

Fort Myers, Florida: 89 mph

Advertisement

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands: 87 mph

Jacksonville, Florida: 86 mph

Fort Lauderdale, Florida: 78 mph

Clearwater, Florida: 77 mph

Charleston, South Carolina: 66 mph

Atlanta: 64 mph

Advertisement

Savannah, Georgia: 60 mph

Gatlinburg, Tennessee: 60 mph


159 mph

The peak wind gust recorded outside the United States, in Falla, Cuba.

Barbuda, in the northern Lesser Antilles, clocked a gust of 155 mph before its wind sensor failed.

185 mph

Irma’s peak maximum sustained wind as it approached the northern Lesser Antilles. This tied as the second-most intense Atlantic hurricane with Hurricane Wilma in 2005, Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and the 1935 Florida Keys hurricane. It trails only Hurricane Allen in 1980, which had winds of 190 mph.

8 feet

The storm surge on Amelia Island (Fernandina Beach).

Advertisement

Other storm surge levels:

Jacksonville, Florida. (Mayport Beach): 6 feet (biggest on record)

Naples, Florida: 5 feet

Charleston, South Carolina: 4 feet (third biggest on record)

Miami: 4 feet

Fort Myers, Florida: 4 feet

Advertisement

Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida: 2 to 3 feet


16 inches

The highest rainfall total in the United States, reported in Fort Pierce, Fla.

Other top totals:

Gainesville, Florida: 12 inches

Naples, Florida: 12 inches

Melbourne, Florida: 11 inches

Advertisement

Jacksonville, Florida: 11 inches

Fort Myers, Florida: 10 inches

Fort Lauderdale, Florida: 10 inches

Orlando, Florida: 9 inches

Savannah, Georgia: 7 inches

Charleston, South Carolina: 6 inches

Advertisement

37 hours

The number of hours the storm maintained maximum wind speeds of at least 180 mph, longer than any storm on Earth on record, passing Super Typhoon Haiyan, the previous record-holder (24 hours).


914 millibars

The pressure the storm dropped to on Sept. 5, (the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm), ranking as the lowest of any storm on record outside the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic basin. Irma’s landfall pressure of 929 millibars in the Florida Keys was the lowest for any U.S. landfalling hurricane since Katrina (920 millibars) and for a Florida landfall since Andrew (922 millibars). It ranks as the seventh-lowest pressure of any U.S. landfalling storm.


3 days

The length of time the storm remained a Category 5 hurricane, the longest since weather satellites began monitoring weather systems in 1966.


Credit to tropical-weather expert Phil Klotzbach for some of the statistics in this post.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.