The 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season drew to a close last on November 30. Initial forecasts from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration predicted near-normal hurricane activity with a range of 12 to 17 total named storms, with 5 to 9 becoming hurricanes and 1 to 4 becoming major hurricanes.
But, this summer brought higher than normal temperatures both on land and in the oceans. According to NASA, July was the hottest month on record, more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the historic average for the month, and warmer than any other month in the 143-year record.
And those temperatures, at least in part, contributed to this hurricane season tying with 1933 for the 4th most named storms on record. There were 20 named storms, with seven becoming hurricanes, three of which were major hurricanes — including Hurricane Idalia which made landfall in the Big Bend Region on August 30 as a Category 3 storm, bringing significant wind damage and storm surge of 7 to 12 feet to Keaton Beach and surrounding areas.
Hurricane Idalia provided a real-world test for a team of researchers at University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Starting in 2017, they created three ‘living shoreline’ projects to demonstrate how a more natural approach to coastal resiliency could be effective. Living shorelines are different to so-called ‘gray shorelines’ which feature seawalls and other man-made protective structures. They include marsh plants that are adaptable to the tidal highs and lows, mangroves, upland grasses typically seen on sand dunes across Florida, and even offshore structures that attract oyster colonization.
They aren’t necessarily designed to protect the coast from major landfalling hurricanes — they’re more focused on day-to-day erosion caused by waves and the tide — but researchers saw this as an opportunity to collect data so installed a series of wave gauges to measure wave energy at those sites during Idalia’s landfall and they found a six to 18% reduction in wave height, and an 11 to 21% reduction in wave energy as compared to adjacent areas.
Guests:
Megan Borowski, Senior Meteorologist at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network
Dr. Savanna Barry, a Regional Florida Sea Grant agent at the UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station in Cedar Key
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
