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Tropical Storm Marco was the only tropical cyclone to make landfall on the
Tropical Storm Marco ,Mm
United States during the 1990 Atlantic hurricane season. The 13th named
storm of the season, Marco formed from a cold-core low pressure area along Tropical storm (SSHWS/NWS)
the northern coast of Cuba on October 9, and tracked northwestward through
the eastern Gulf of Mexico. With most of its circulation over the western
portion of Florida, Tropical Storm Marco produced 65 mph (100 km/h) winds
over land. However, it weakened to a tropical depression before moving
ashore near Cedar Key. The cyclone combined with a cold front and the
remnants of Hurricane Klaus to produce heavy rainfall in Georgia and the
Carolinas. After interacting with the nearby Hurricane Lili, Marco continued
northward until being absorbed by a cold front on October 13.
Preparations
A tropical storm warningwas issued at some point during the existence of the cyclone for the west coast of Florida from Key West to
Apalachicola. Additionally, a tropical storm warning was put in place for the east coast from Vero Beach northward to Fernandina
Beach.[7] Before the arrival of Marco, elementary schools were closed on the three barrier islands in Lee County.[4] Florida governor
Bob Martinez ordered the closure of state offices in the Tampa Bay area, and also decided not to open the University of South Florida
and nearby community colleges. Public schools were not opened on the day of the storm's passage in Manatee and Sarasota counties,
though most other schools remained open.[8] As the storm tracked northward, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for
much of Georgia. A flood watch was later issued for western portions of the Carolinas and for high elevations in Virginia and West
Virginia.[9]
Impact
Florida
With most of its circulation over the western portion of Florida during its existence, Tropical Storm Marco produced 39–74 mph
winds across western Florida.[7] As it brushed the coastline, the storm developed strong convective rain bands,[10] leading to peak
sustained winds of 69 mph (111 km/h) with gusts to 85 mph (137 km/h) on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge;[7] the bridge was closed
after gusts reached 70 mph (113 km/h).[11] Squalls from the storm spawned four tornadoes in the state,[7] one of which struck the city
of Crystal River, destroying a mobile home and leaving 2,000 people without power for about an hour.[12] Storm damage left about
[11]
25,000 customers across the state without power and about 40 families temporarily homeless.
Paralleling the coastline, the storm produced a light storm surge that peaked at 2.6 feet (0.8 m) above normal on Sanibel Island.[7] In
some locations, the surge rose rapidly, and, despite the unusual geography of the area, the levels varied only by as much as 9.8 inches
(250 mm) than the predicted levels from the SLOSH model.[10] The surge and waves caused minor beach erosion.[7] Moderate to
Bradenton;[13] the rainfall was beneficial after a very
heavy rainfall fell across western Florida, peaking at 6.14 inches (156 mm) near
dry summer, though, because it fell quickly, even this amount of precipitation failed to relieve water restrictions across the area.[14]
The storm resulted in some flooding in its path, including some several homes in
Manatee County, roadways, and two U.S. highways.
Statewide damage totalled $3 million (1990 USD, $5.75 million 2019 USD),[7] of which $1 million (1990 USD, $1.92 million
2019 USD) occurred in Manatee County.[11]
Elsewhere
As the remnants of Marco entered Georgia, they combined with the remnant
moisture from Hurricane Klaus and a slow-moving cold front, which caused large
amounts of precipitation to fall across the eastern portion of the state. Rainfall
peaked at 19.89 inches (505 mm) at a weather station nearLouisville, Georgia where
over 16 inches (400 mm) fell in a 24‑hour period.[7] In Augusta, 2.79 inches
(71 mm) of rainfall fell in one hour, which forced the evacuation of about
300 people. Some roads in eastern Georgia were flooded up to 6 feet (1.8 m) deep,
and police officers in Augusta rescued people in flooded cars. The flooding resulted
in some power outages. In the deluge, five people drowned,[9] and 450 were left
homeless.[15] The remnants of the storm spawned a tornado in Brantley County,
which destroyed 25 unoccupied homes.[16] Damage in Georgia totaled $42 million
(1990 USD, $80.5 million 2019 USD).[7] On October 19, 1990, President George H.
W. Bush declared several counties in Georgia as federal disaster areas, which Rainfall summary for Tropical Storm
permitted the use of emergency funds for victims.[17][18] Marco
Heavy rainfall continued northward into the Carolinas. Much of South Carolina
experienced over 7 inches (175 mm) of precipitation; statewide, the rainfall peaked at 13.96 inches (355 mm) in Pageland.[3][19] The
highest totals in 100 years in some locations[20] also ended a severe drought.[21] In the flooding, 80 bridges in the state failed; in
total, more than 120 bridges were either closed, damaged, or destroyed.[22] In South Carolina, the system caused three drowning
deaths;[15] damage totaled $12 million (1990, $23 million 2019 USD).[7] In North Carolina, rainfall reached 10.74 inches (273 mm)
in Albemarle.[19] The storm directly caused two deaths in North Carolina,
[7] and indirectly caused two traffic deaths.[15]
Rainfall from the combined remnants of Marco and Klaus extended into the Ohio Valley, with 3.67 inches (93 mm) recorded near
Mountain City, Tennessee.[19] Totals of 2–5 inches (50–125 mm) spread across northwest Virginia, western Maryland, eastern West
Virginia, and the Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania.[7] In New York, the rainfall combined with moisture from Hurricane Lili,
.[23]
which triggered flooding that closed a portion of a railway line and a highway
See also
List of Florida hurricanes
List of North Carolina hurricanes (1980–present)
References
1. National Hurricane Center (1990)."Hurricane Klaus Preliminary Report"(http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wal
lets/atlantic/atl1990-prelim/klaus/prelim02.gif). Retrieved 2007-10-31.
2. National Hurricane Center (1990)."Tropical Storm Marco Preliminary Report"(http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/stor
m_wallets/atlantic/atl1990-prelim/marco/prelim01.gif)
. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
3. David Roth (2006). "Rainfall Summary for Tropical Storm Marco/Hurricane Klaus" (http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tro
pical/rain/marcoklaus1990.html). Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
4. David K. Rogers (1990-10-11). "Tropical Storm Marco aims south of Tampa Bay". The Saint Petersburg Times. p. 3.
5. National Hurricane Center (1990)."Tropical Storm Marco Preliminary Report Page 2" (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archi
ve/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1990-prelim/marco/prelim02.gif)
. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
6. Alan F. Srock; Lance F. Bosart & John Molinari (2004)."A Composite Study of Precipitation Distribution in U.S.
Landfalling Tropical Cyclones" (http://ams.confex.com/ams/84Annual/techprogram/paper_72069.htm) . University at
Albany. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
7. Max Mayfield & Miles B. Lawrence (1992)."Atlantic Hurricane Season of 1990"(http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/li
b/lib1/nhclib/mwreviews/1990.pdf)(PDF). American Meteorological Society. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
8. Bill Adair, Bill Duryea; Stephen Hegarty; Elijah Gosier (1990-10-12). "State employees get day of
f, but children
attend school". The Saint Petersburg Times (City ed.). p. 12A.
9. Andrew Yarrow (1990-10-13). "Storms Batter the East Coast From Georgia to Delaware"(https://query.nytimes.com/
gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6DA1E39F930A25753C1A966958260) . The New York Times. p. 111. Retrieved
2007-11-17.
10. Sam Houston & Mark Powell (1994)."Observed and Modeled Wind and Water-Level Response from Tropical Storm
Marco (1990)" (http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Powell/Houston.pdf) (PDF). Weather and Forecasting. American
Meteorological Society. 9 (3): 427–439. Bibcode:1994WtFor...9..427H (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994WtFor
...
9..427H). doi:10.1175/1520-0434(1994)009<0427:OAMW AW>2.0.CO;2 (https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0434%281
994%29009%3C0427%3AOAMWAW%3E2.0.CO%3B2). Retrieved 2007-11-09.
11. David Rogers; et al. (1990-10-12). "Marco sprinkles state with rain".The Saint Petersburg Times. p. 18.
12. Ross, Jim; Moritsugu, Ken; Drummond, Steve (1990-10-12). "T
ropical storm spawns tornado".The Saint Petersburg
Times (city ed.). p. 1.
13. Roth, David M; Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (2012). "T
ropical Cyclone Rainfall in Florida".Tropical
Cyclone Rainfall Point Maxima(http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/tcflorida.html). United States National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National W
eather Service. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
14. Steven Drummond (1990-10-12). "Storm won't ease water restrictions".
The Saint Petersburg Times. p. 68.
15. Dennis Hevesi (1990-10-14). "East Breathes Easier as Storms' Threat Pales".
The New York Times. Time Warner.
p. 123.
16. Julia C. Muller (2004)."15 years of area natural disasters"(https://web.archive.org/web/20040824083626/http://www.
savannahnow.com/features/flood/historic.html). Savannah Morning News. Archived from the original (http://www.sav
annahnow.com/features/flood/historic.html)on 2004-08-24. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
17. Government of Augusta, Georgia (2005). "Hazard Mitigation Plan (Draft) for Richmond County".
18. Federal Emergency Management Agency (1990)."Georgia Flooding, Severe Storm"(https://web.archive.org/web/20
120218080034/http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=2081). Archived from the original (http://www.fema.gov/ne
ws/event.fema?id=2081)on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
19. Roth, David M; Hydrometeorological Prediction Center . "Tropical Cyclone Rainfall in the Southeastern United
States". Tropical Cyclone Rainfall Point Maxima(http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/rain/tcsoutheast.html).
United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National W eather Service. Retrieved June 5,
2012.
20. "10 die as torrential storms cause floods in southern U.S.". Associated Press. 1990-10-13.
21. South Carolina State Climatology Office (2004). "Climate Statistics for South Carolina"(http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climat
e/sco/ClimateData/cli_sc_climate.php). Retrieved 2007-11-17.
22. South Carolina District of U.S. Geological Survey (2004). "South Carolina Science Goals 2004–2009".
23. Tracy Walmer (1990-10-15). "Southeast mops up, calms down after storms' havoc".
USA Today.
External links
NHC Marco Preliminary Report (gif format)
1990 Monthly Weather Review
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