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How much storm surge did Naples, Florida suffer from Hurricane Milton?

Hurricane Milton has left the state of Florida and that is a huge relief for everyone living in the Sunshine State. Reporting on the aftermath of the powerful storm, which was a Category 3 hurricane, is ongoing and that means we need to dig deep into the data.

We contacted the National Weather Service in Miami this morning. The NWS-Miami covers the Naples area in Collier County. Here's what they told us:

Hurricane Milton storm surge gauges

  • The tide gauge in Naples (Naples North Bay) reached a mean high water level (MHHW) of 5.08 feet on Wednesday evening (October 9) during the peak of Hurricane Milton's wave.
  • This exceeds the value (4.02 feet) observed during Hurricane Helene two weeks ago and Hurricane Irma (4.25 feet).
  • This is the second highest value on the list after Hurricane Ian (6.18+ feet)*, which had the gauge fail before the peak of the storm surge.

Rainfall totals from Hurricane Milton

  • Rainfall Totals – Less than 2 inches during the duration of the Milton Passage. 6-8 inches widespread over the last seven days with isolated locally higher amounts, much of which fell during the heavy rain event off Milton.

Wind gusts from Hurricane Milton

  • According to the NWS-Miami website, some of the highest wind gusts recorded in Collier County from 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8 through Thursday, Oct. 10 were 59 mph at the Collier County Emergency Operations Center, 58 mph per hour in Immokalee and 56 mph at the Naples Zoo.
  • All wind gust measurements can be found HERE.

Hurricane Milton Tornado Warnings/Watches

  • We cannot give you a state-specific total, but there were 55 tornado warnings issued for South Florida yesterday by NWS Miami and 126 tornado warnings issued by NWS offices throughout South Florida.
  • This was the highest number of tornado warnings our office has issued in a single day, surpassing the previous record of 49 during Hurricane Ian in 2022.
  • As for confirmed tornadoes, we are still in the process of conducting storm surveys, so we don't have a final number yet. We currently know of seven different storms that may have produced at least one tornado, and in some cases multiple tornadoes. The tornado warning was issued at 8:23 a.m. on October 9, 2024.

This story has been updated to add video.

By Vanessa

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