AccuWeather is wrapping up live coverage on Nicole’s impacts in the United States. Forecasters say a dramatic change in the weather is expected to unfold in the eastern U.S. once Nicole departs. For additional coverage, stream AccuWeather NOW anytime on our website. Stay up to date on the latest weather in your area by downloading the AccuWeather mobile app and visiting AccuWeather.com. And keep an eye on weather news and forecasts by following AccuWeather on:
When hurricane Nicole approached landfall in Florida on Wednesday, a large amount of sea foam blew onto beaches. Video from St. Augustine, Florida, showed a hefty amount of foam coating the beach and fluttering around. At this point, Nicole was a Category 1 hurricane and was about to make landfall 175 miles south of St. Augustine. The sea foam looked transformed St. Augustine into what looked like an overflowing bubble bath as the winds began to blow towards the area. This pre-arrival foaming was just the beginning of the intense weather Nicole brought to Florida to end the week.
Wilbur Beach, Florida, was in the path of Hurricane Nicole when it made landfall along the Florida coast on Thursday morning. Residents of Wilbur-By-The-Sea were especially hit by the storm as it came ashore and caused damage across the community. Properties in the community now sit dangerously close to the ocean after erosion from Ian was further exacerbated by Nicole. Some homes have already been condemned and fallen, leaving residents being told they can't return because it is too unsafe. "We don't know how we are going to make it. I understand they are going to condemn a couple of these houses and mine might be one of them," Wilbur-By-The-Sea resident Marc Bauerle told AccuWeather reporter Jillian Angeline. Residents think it could take months or even years to repair the damage done by Nicole and Ian. Heavy equipment and federal help is being requested by those in the area to help aid relief efforts.
Florida Department of Transportation crews were able to reopen a section of State Road A1A near Marineland, Florida, near the St. Johns/Flagler county line Thursday evening after Nicole inundated the roadway. “Initially our goal is just simply to restore access to the road, and so that’s what we’re working on right now,” Jared W. Perdue, secretary of the FDOT, told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell. “So what you see going on right now is a mad rush really to get the road back open to traffic, get it secure, so that the life-safety mission can be fulfilled, so that individuals can move about their daily lives and begin to recover from the storm.” The FDOT mobilized roughly 180 dump trucks to begin repairs to the road, he added. Photos of the road showed sand that had been carried over from the beach and deposited across the asphalt, a few front loaders pushing back the bordering dunes.
As tropical rainstorm Nicole continues its northeast trek out of North Carolina and Virginia, power outages remain widespread across both states. Pamlico County in eastern North Carolina reported over 430 power outages as of Friday evening, according to PowerOutage.us. Power outages exceed 500 in both Guilford and Forsyth counties in North Carolina. Over 6,400 customers were without power in Virginia, with over 700 coming from Floyd County in southwestern Virginia. Carroll, Louisa and Buckingham counties are all over 500 customers without power as of Thursday evening.
NASA is still on track to attempt the launch of the Artemis I mission on Nov. 16, a NASA official said in a Friday afternoon media briefing. The announcement came after the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket weathered Hurricane Nicole on the launch pad rather than rolling it back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), as it had with Hurricane Ian. The transportation process, however, takes at least three days. The rocket was built to withstand wind gusts up to 85 mph (74.4 knots) at an elevation of 60 feet above the ground. Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems development, told reporters that the wind gusts did not exceed the limits of the rocket.
Free added that when making the call to roll out on Nov. 4, the possibility of a tropical system had been discussed, but the wind risk had been lower and climatology had suggested Nicole wouldn’t strengthen into a hurricane. The forecast was looking a bit different by Sunday, and in a second meeting officials decided that rolling the rocket at a time when the strong winds would have already arrived would pose a new risk. Ultimately, they decided to keep the rocket out on the launch pad. "I think it's safe to say, for all of us, we obviously would not have wanted to stay out there. The best place for the vehicles in those kinds of things is the VAB. We could not make it back to the VAB and be safe, so we stayed where we were, and our predictions and our certification limits protected us," Free said. Only minor damage was recorded following the storm, including some loose RTV on the Orion, a tear in one of the engine rain covers and water in the crew access arm.
AccuWeather released a preliminary estimate on Friday of the total damage and economic loss as a result of Nicole, which made landfall in Florida early Thursday morning. Nicole caused widespread power outages, coastal flooding and at least 5 deaths. Due to the destruction caused by Nicole, AccuWeather estimates total damage and economic loss from Nicole will be between $5 billion and $7 billion.
While costly, Nicole did not cause the widespread catastrophic damage that Hurricane Ian caused, which struck Florida just weeks ago in October and caused between $180 billion and $210 billion in total damage and economic loss.
In total, AccuWeather estimates the damage from Nicole will only be 3 percent of that from Ian. Nicole is yet another natural disaster occurring in Florida, which will further strain resources for recovery and the already challenging Florida insurance marketplace.
Apparently not even a hurricane could stop an annual international surfing competition from taking place on Florida’s shores. “Nicole tore up our dunes, but the girls are tearing up the waves!” veterans activist Travis Akers proclaimed on social media as the Air Force Super Girl Surf Pro competition got underway at Jacksonville Beach, nearly 36 hours after Hurricane Nicole came barreling through the state. Jacksonville was one of several coastal communities that sustained widespread damage.
The water-sport event bills itself as the second-largest female surf contest in the world and more than 90 women were expected to compete in the three-day test of will. The competition got underway Thursday before a large crowd under cloudy skies, although dangerous post-Nicole rip currents continued to be a problem for much of the coastline.
Nearly 36 hours after making landfall in eastern Florida as a deadly Category 1 hurricane, Nicole has transitioned to a tropical rainstorm. Although the system has lost wind intensity while moving over land, the storm’s rain will continue to endanger lives and property into the weekend, with 2 to 4 inches of rain forecast to fall over a large area from the Ohio Valley to Atlantic Canada. The rain could washout Friday night football games and the early weekend activities across the Northeast.
Tropical Rainstorm Nicole over the eastern U.S. before sunset on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (NOAA/GOES-EAST)
Despite being downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday night, Nicole still brought heavy amounts of rainfall to mid-Atlantic states such as North Carolina. Several locations across the state already recorded daily rainfall totals above 6 inches as of Friday afternoon, such as Highlands, North Carolina, and Boone, North Carolina, which both had rainfall totals above 6.80 inches. In southwestern North Carolina, an amateur ambient weather station recorded a daily rainfall total of 7.83 inches in Cashiers. The largest rainfall total of the day so far came from Cattail Creek, North Carolina, which reported 8.73 inches of precipitation as of 3 p.m. Friday.
Rainfall has also impacted other states such as Virginia and Ohio. In Zanesville, Ohio, 1.86 inches of rain was recorded through 4 p.m. local time, which is 6th most precipitation recorded in the city during a single day in November and the most since 1999. If Zanesville records another 1.2 inches of rainfall on Friday, it would tie the record for most precipitation during a single day in November which occurred on Nov. 26, 1985. To the east in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Steel City recorded 0.93 inches of rain on the day, the most since Sept. 5.
Endless scenes from Florida’s east coast show stretches of devastation and flooding along the shoreline as Nicole’s powerful winds and torrential rain were responsible for massive flooding and severe beach erosion, causing many shoreline homes to collapse and roadways to crumble. A day after the hurricane made landfall, Floridians now begin the process once again of picking up the pieces:
Tropical downpours associated with Nicole have spread into the northeastern U.S. and southern Ontario, with the heaviest rain focusing on a zone from western New York into eastern Kentucky. Persistent rain could lead to episodes of flooding, especially in urban areas where leaves could easily clog storm drains. Flooding has been reported in the mountains of North Carolina with over 8 inches measured at Mount Mitchell, the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River located 20 miles northeast of Asheville, North Carolina.
Severe thunderstorms are starting to break out, with multiple tornado warnings issued for Richmond, Virginia, early Friday afternoon. The tornado threat will continue across the mid-Atlantic through Friday evening, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and the suburbs around the cities.
Rain from Nicole spanned from Georgia through New York on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (AccuWeather)
Wind speed is one of the meteorological parameters that can define a hurricane in the history books, but there is another scale that forecasters use when looking back at the lifespan of a storm. Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) is a parameter that measures how much energy a tropical system generates from the time that it forms until it dissipates. A short-lived tropical storm will have a small ACE, while a long-lived hurricane will have a high ACE.
As of Friday afternoon, Nicole had an ACE of 4.0, according to Colorado State University. This is the sixth-highest ACE value for a tropical storm this season, following Gaston (5.2), Danielle (12.5), Earl (14.2), Ian (17.4), and Fiona (26.3). The ACE for the Atlantic hurricane season is now up to 95.1, below the seasonal average of 122.5. This season is also on track to have the lowest ACE value of any Atlantic hurricane season since 2015.
Drone footage from Daytona Beach, Florida, shows a glimpse into the extent of the damage from Hurricane Nicole. In the video, the ocean lapped at broken-down foundation of hotels and motels. The rough surf had even broke down the pavement surrounding a hotel pool, which teetered dangerously at the edge of the remaining concrete. Waves pushed debris up against the collapsed ledges and parts of a mini golf course had even been uprooted. In an update on Thursday, Volusia County officials warned that several structures along the coast, including Daytona Beach, were compromised and warned people against returning before the buildings could be assessed.
Hotels in Daytona Beach, Florida, were damaged by strong waves, storm surge and flooding from Hurricane Nicole on Nov. 10. The Hawaiian Inn Beach Resort was among those damaged.
Hurricane Nicole’s powerful winds and waves have unearthed the skeletal remains of six people believed to be from an ancient Native American burial ground on Florida’s east coast. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office told local media that Dakota Brady, of Fort Pierce, was walking with friends along Chastain Beach in South Hutchinson Island Thursday morning when he came upon the remains.
The county medical examiner’s office determined that the six skulls as well as leg and arm bones date back over 200 years, the Sheriff's Office said. “We do believe based on other findings over the years along that area that it’s likely to be an old burial site” of Indigenous people, Martin County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy John Budensiek told NBC News. He added that the remains would be taken to a medical examiner and then to the state Bureau of Archaeological Research.
Tina Osceola, director of the Seminole Tribe of Florida's Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, told WPTV that the remains “are ancestors of the Seminole people… That we do know.” Similar remains of Native Americans have been discovered on the island after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019, officials said.
“It’s just a surreal feeling, we’re walking on this beach and you don’t know that all these skulls and bones are right under your feet,” Brady told local media at the site.
Once Nicole departs the eastern U.S., a significant change in the weather pattern is set to unfold. Temperatures will plummet as the warm, and in some cases tropical, air will be replaced by frosts, freezes and even some snowflakes, AccuWeather meteorologists say. Colder air, which has already brought temperatures well below freezing and feet of snow to the West and northern Plains, will spread over the East. “Up to this point, much of the East has experienced brief bursts of chilly air that have lasted two to maybe four days, but the pattern unfolding starting this weekend one will be the longest stretches of below-normal temperatures so far this season,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Joe Lundberg said. “Essentially, once the cold air moves in, it sticks around this time.”
There are less than 20 days left in the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season and all is quiet in the basin now that Nicole has moved inland. So is that it for this up-and-down hurricane season? AccuWeather meteorologists say not so fast.
Although nothing is expected to develop in the short term, AccuWeather Long-Range Meteorologist Alex DaSilva said there remains a chance for one more storm to form during the latter half of November. “The wind shear is forecast to decrease off the southeast coast of the U.S. and Caribbean later in the month. This could allow a storm to briefly form,” DaSilva said. He cautioned that it remains too early to tell if a system could affect the United States. DaSilva noted that the track Nicole took to the U.S. was atypical for this time of year.
“Nicole formed in a typical location for a November storm but took an atypical track. Usually, storms that form off the southeast coast of the U.S. in November just move out to sea without impacting land. Nicole was driven west by an area of high pressure to the north,” he said. If another named storm does take shape later this month, it will be called Owen.
As for this season overall, there have been 14 named storms, eight hurricanes and two major hurricanes (Fiona and Ian). An average hurricane season usually has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
After working an exhausting shift at a local hospital, Kelly James, a nurse from Vilano Beach, Florida, which is just southeast of Jacksonville, told AccuWeather’s Bill Wadell that all the roads she normally takes to get home were blocked. As waves crashed down on the roadways during high tide on Thursday, the asphalt was ripped apart, making roads impassable. Officers closed roads to the public during this time. “High tide really wreaked havoc on everything here. Most of the dunes seem to be gone. Part of the road behind us is gone,” James told Wadell. “This is definitely the worst that we’ve seen here.”
And it wasn’t just the roadways in Vilano Beach that were crumbled from Nicole. Just northeast of Orlando, in Volusia County, bridges and beachside roads were closed on Thursday due to unsafe conditions. On Friday morning, some roads and bridges were reopened in Volusia County. Areas of the Atlantic Avenue in Wilbur-by-the-Sea and Daytona Beach Shores remained blocked to non-residents as damage assessments and recovery were ongoing. Residents can access the roadways with proof of residency.
The water level on the Mississippi River reached historic lows earlier this fall following an extremely dry summer across the central U.S., slowing barge traffic and taking an economic toll on companies and farmers that rely on the country’s largest river. The water level dropped so much that it uncovered Civil War-era relics that have been underwater for over 100 years. But now it appears that help is on the way thanks to Nicole.
Heavy tropical rain is spreading across the Ohio River Valley, with widespread rainfall of 2 to 4 inches predicted through Saturday. It will take several days for the rain to trickle through the tributaries and pour into the Ohio River, but it will cause a noticeable rise in the river’s water level. The Ohio River at Cincinnati is forecast to rise from around 26.5 feet on Friday to 32.3 feet by Tuesday. This surge of water will eventually pour into the Mississippi River, bringing a short-term rise in the water level on the lower Mississippi River through mid-November.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state agencies to prepare emergency response assets as Tropical Rainstorm Nicole is expected to impact New York, with heavy, flooding rain. The most significant flood risk spans from western New York to central New York, including large cities, such as Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. State agencies such as the Department of Transportation and Thruway Authority are prepared to respond with more than 3,800 operators and supervisors on standby. Other state agencies will monitor the forecast and respond as needed. “Governor Hochul and I are asking New Yorkers to prepare in advance, pay attention to local forecasts, make a plan if your area will be affected, and remember to check on your vulnerable neighbors and loved ones this weekend,” Jackie Bray, the New York State (NYS) division of homeland security and emergency services commissioner, said in a press release.
The center of Nicole is around 30 miles north of Atlanta, but the storm’s influence is being felt across most of the eastern U.S. and into southern Ontario and Quebec. The latest imagery from NOAA’s GOES-EAST weather satellite showed clouds from Nicole over most areas east of the Mississippi River and into Canada. Tropical rain has spread as far north as western New York, but the heaviest rain is focused on a zone from central Pennsylvania to eastern Tennessee. People across the eastern United States should prepare for weather-related travel delays into Friday night, both on the road and at the airport.
Clouds from Nicole reached from the Gulf of Mexico into Canada after sunrise on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (NOAA/GOES-EAST)
As Nicole made landfall and moved across Florida the highest wind gusts were reported at weather stations on NASA towers at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. One weather station, located about 120 feet above ground level, near the Artemis I moon rocket, which is designed to withstand 86-mph (74.4-knot) gusts, reported a wind gust of 100 mph. Fortunately, the rocket did not experience wind speeds of such magnitude. The Artemis I moon rocket, which sits around the 60-foot level experienced wind gusts of 82 mph, Jim Free, a NASA associate administrator for exploration systems development, confirmed on social media Thursday. While just 4 mph shy, this is within the rocket’s capability. Free said camera footage at the launch pad showed very minor damage and a full onsite inspection will be conducted soon. Other NASA towers in the region gusted between 70 and 100 mph.
A tornado watch was issued for parts of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia until 3 p.m. EST Friday. The watch includes the Outer Banks off the coast of North Carolina and Myrtle Beach, in South Carolina. The center of Nicole is roughly 130 miles south of Atlanta, Georgia but the impacts of Nicole can be felt as far north as Pennsylvania. Tropical downpours, gusty winds and severe weather will continue to impact the mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Saturday.
As almost 300,000 homes and businesses across Florida have lost power due to Nicole’s impact, generators can become helpful. However, they can also cause serious harm if used improperly. Risks for fire, electrocution and carbon monoxide poisoning are the major concerns to keep in mind, especially as the latter sends more than 20,000 people to the emergency room every year, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
AccuWeather recommends generators to only be used outside, positioned away from windows, doors, vents and other openings as well as to never plug a generator directly into a wall outlet. Keeping them at least 30 feet away from the home and any of its openings, as well as storing gasoline containers away from the generator and from any other object that emits heat or flames are also vital practices for the users’ protection.
In order to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, users need to remember that it is an odorless gas, so not being able to smell exhaust fumes will not be enough to prevent exposure, according to The American Red Cross. Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms can include dizziness, unconsciousness, nausea and vomiting. “If you start to feel sick, dizzy, or weak while using a generator, get to fresh air RIGHT AWAY - DO NOT DELAY,” the Red Cross said on its website.
Footage from Vilano Beach, Florida, shows the destruction caused by the wind and waves from Hurricane Nicole, as a powerful storm surge pushed water ashore. In addition to causing heavy damage to buildings along the Atlantic coast, the repeated onslaught of wind and water caused large sections of Florida route A1A to collapse and wash out, leaving the important route impassable.
According to local officials, road crews had already begun to repair the road as of early Friday morning, and waters had begun to recede as Nicole moves northward away from the area.
While Nicole's winds and heavy rain have departed the Sunshine State, many remain in the dark as cleanup in the wake of the storm begins.
At Nicole's peak, over 100,000 customers were without power as hurricane-force winds slammed into the Atlantic coast, spreading inland thereafter. While work has started to help restore power, over 50,000 remain in the dark across Florida as of 5 a.m. Friday morning, according to poweroutage.us. Nearly half of these outages come from Brevard County, where some of the storm's most intense winds were observed.
As Nicole spreads heavy rain, strong wind gusts and the chance for tornadoes northward today, impacts to travel may broaden as millions of people and over a dozen states feel the tropical system's wrath.
Air travel has already felt significant impacts from the storm as it moved ashore in Florida, with over 1,000 flights canceled thus far. Airports in major Florida destinations such as Orlando, Palm Beach and Daytona Beach, announced full closures ahead of the storm.
As heavy rain and storms spread northward travelers up and down the Eastern Seaboard are encouraged to keep track of their flight status and prepare for possible delays or cancellations due to weather conditions. Impacts will also not be confined to the skies, and drivers will want to allow for extra time to reach their destination as inclement weather persists.
Rainfall from Nicole is forecast to arrive in New York City around midday Friday, but the worst of it won’t hit until the second half of Friday night into early Saturday morning, according to AccuWeather forecasters. While the tropical downpour could cause flash flooding, the event isn’t expected to be as severe as Ida, which claimed several lives in the state when people became trapped in their basement apartments amid rising floodwaters. The storm will also bring tropical strong winds to the city, with the best chance of strong to damaging wind gusts Friday night forecast to clock in around 40-45 mph, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek.
Significant impacts from Nicole will be felt in the Interstate-95 Northeast corridor Friday to Saturday, ranging from strong wind gusts to possibly a few isolated tornadoes. Widespread rainfall of 2-4 inches is forecast to fall from western Virginia through the eastern Ohio Valley, the Appalachians and into northern New England, according to AccuWeather forecasters. With the end of the fall foliage season, fallen leaves could lead to clogged storm drains, resulting in localized flooding issues in urban areas.
The rainfall, however, could bring some relief to areas in the Northeast experiencing abnormally dry conditions. This includes areas a swath of central Pennsylvania northward through New York State, along with parts of New England, according to date from U.S. Drought Monitor.
As the sky cleared and the sun came out Thursday afternoon over Brevard County, residents have started the beginning stages of cleanup after Hurricane Nicole slammed into the east-central Florida coast as a Category 1 storm. Crews have started assessing damage, and the county has shared a self-reporting link for residents to report damage to their property. “We’re asking all of our residents to complete that it [they] have any damage,” Brevard County Emergency Management Public Information Officer Rachel Horst told AccuWeather Assistant Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Geoff Cornish. “That will give us a better idea of what areas of our county were severely impacted.” Since the county stretches along the coast, for some 70 miles, she added that they expect to see a variety of impacts for different locations.
Prior to Nicole’s arrival, the county was concerned about three things: wind, rain and storm surge. Beach erosion as a result of storm surge was also on that list, according to Horst. “Especially in the wake of Ian, some of those areas were already not in their best condition,” she added.
After spending most of Thursday as a tropical storm, Nicole has been downgraded to a tropical depression by the National Weather Service on Thursday night. Despite being downgraded, the storm continued to deliver heavy rain, which remains a threat for the southeast as Nicole continues its northeastward trek. As of 10 p.m. EST, Nicole was located about 20 miles north of Tallahassee, Florida, and was moving northwest at 15 mph. A tropical storm weakens to a tropical depression when maximum sustained wind speeds dip below 39 mph. Nicole had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph at the time of downgrade.
During a typical November, Orlando only records about 1.79 inches of rain during the month, but the deluge delivered by Hurricane Nicole caused the city to far exceed the typical amount. As of Thursday night, Orlando recorded 6.35 inches of rain over the past 24 hours, more than 3 times the typical entire month total. Other areas across Florida also recorded rainfall totals above 6 inches, including Lake Mary which saw 6.69 inches of rainfall. The largest rainfall total came from Winter Springs, which saw 8.17 inches of total rain over the past 24 hours. Nicole is forecast to continue bringing tropical rain to portions of Florida into overnight Thursday.
After drenching much of Florida with heavy precipitation, Nicole brought similar conditions further inland to states such as South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. As of 8:30 p.m. EST, the heaviest rain from Nicole was along southeastern Alabama and southwestern Georgia, including in Albany, Georgia. A heavy band of rain was moving into the southern coast of South Carolina, bringing heavy rainfall to the Savannah area. Charleston, South Carolina, had already recorded 1.34 inches of rain over the past 6 hours. Throughout the night, more intense rain is expected to fall for these areas along with portions of North Carolina.
When the Atlanta Falcons are set to kick off against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, North Carolina, drenching rains could impact the flow of the game thanks to Tropical Storm Nicole. As of 5 p.m. local time, Bank of America Stadium, the home of the Carolina Panthers, was already experiencing light rain. Periods of rain are expected to continue throughout the night, with nearly two-tenths of an inch of rain forecast to fall by midnight. The rain is forecast to continue through the early morning hours on Friday for the Charlotte area. Coincidently, the last game played at Bank of America stadium under rainy conditions was a 2020 game between the same two opponents and also on Thursday Night Football, according to NFL Weather.
A tornado watch was issued by the National Weather Service for portions of Georgia and The Carolinas on Thursday evening. In Georgia, the watch was issued for the southeast portion of the state which includes Savannah. In South Carolina the watch includes the eastern portion of the state including Beaufort, Charleston and Myrtle Beach. The warning extends to southeastern North Carolina including Wilmington. In total, the watch encompasses a population of over 2.8 million people. The tornado watch remains in effect for all locations until 1 a.m. eastern time.
Tropical Storm Nicole is currently located about 40 miles southeast of Tallahassee, Florida. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is moving northwest at 15 mph.
Endless scenes from Florida’s east coast show stretches of devastation and flooding along the shoreline as Nicole’s powerful winds and torrential rain stripped away large chunks of beaches, piers and coastline roadways. Here is some of what Nicole left behind in her wake:
Orlando International Airport leads the world in flight cancellations Thursday among all tracked airports in the world, according to FlightAware. At over 900 combined cancellations among both origin and destination flights, Orlando far surpasses the second most cancellations of the day which come from Beijing. Orlando International announced it would resume limited commercial flights starting at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Tampa International Airport reported 40 cancellations and 66 delays among origin flights. Jacksonville International Airport had 35 cancellations and 11 delays as of Thursday evening. In total, over 1,300 flights around the United States were cancelled for the day as of Thursday evening.
As Hurricane Nicole swept through Florida, the cloud bands swirling with the storm continued to move with it. On Thursday afternoon, satellite images from GOES-EAST satellite showed the impressive massive size of Nicole as it approached the Florida panhandle. Bands of clouds swirling to the south of Nicole reached the southern part of Florida while clouds to the north of the storm were extending into Northern Virginia and Maryland. While no longer a hurricane, Nicole is still impacting the Southeast with strong winds and excessive rainfall. Nicole is forecast to travel northward into the Florida panhandle before starting a northeast trek into Georgia and the Carolinas on Friday.
Tropical Storm Nicole around 2:30 EST on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. (NOAA/GOES-East)
Several NOAA gauges across Florida have recorded high water levels as a result of Nicole, with many surpassing 3 feet above Mean Higher High Water. Lake Worth, Florida, located near Palm Beach, rose 2.52 feet above MHHW -- the highest on record going back to 2012. Buckman Bridge in Jacksonville surged 3.82 feet above MHHW as of Thursday afternoon, resulting in the second-highest MHHW on record and topping Ian. Mayport, Southbank and Dames Point all recorded water levels over 3 feet above MHHW on Thursday.
Some parts of western Pennsylvania into Ohio could go from tropical downpours one day to snow the next, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok warned. Cleveland, he added, was a prime example. Tropical rainfall from Nicole is forecast to hit the city Friday through Saturday before cold air from the Plains charges eastward, bringing with it the chance for snow. Pittsburgh is in a similar scenario, poised to see tropical rainfall Friday to Saturday before seeing a chance for flurries. Snow may also fall over Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday after Saturday’s rain, though little to no accumulation is expected.
As almost 300,000 homes and businesses across Florida have lost power due to Nicole’s impact, generators can become helpful. However, they can also cause serious harm if used improperly. Risks for fire, electrocution and carbon monoxide poisoning are the major concerns to keep in mind, especially as the latter sends more than 20,000 people to the emergency room every year, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
AccuWeather recommends generators to only be used outside, positioned away from windows, doors, vents and other openings as well as to never plug a generator directly into a wall outlet. Keeping them at least 30 feet away from the home and any of its openings, as well as storing gasoline containers away from the generator and from any other object that emits heat or flames are also vital practices for the users’ protection.
In order to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, users need to remember that it is an odorless gas, so not being able to smell exhaust fumes will not be enough to prevent exposure, according to The American Red Cross. Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms can include dizziness, unconsciousness, nausea and vomiting. “If you start to feel sick, dizzy, or weak while using a generator, get to fresh air RIGHT AWAY - DO NOT DELAY,” the Red Cross said on its website.
The Florida National Guard was seen helping support Hurricane Nicole response efforts on Thursday, according to an online post. Soldiers helped rescue those in stranded cars that were caught in high water in St. Lucie County, Florida. More than 550 members of the guard are part of the rescue and relief efforts of Hurricane Nicole. Also, reconnaissance patrols were conducted along the affected county coastline in Nicole's aftermath.
Volusia County authorities helped Tower Grande Condominiums residents evacuate the building after a seawall collapse left it in unsafe condition. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office also said that most bridges to the beachside were ordered closed to traffic except for essential personnel due to "safety hazards." Exceptions were the New Smyrna Beach bridges were opened.
Just under 300,000 homes and businesses across much of Florida were without power as of 2:30 p.m. ET Thursday due to Nicole’s powerful winds and torrential rain, according to Poweroutage.us. That number is down from the peak of 350,000 outages reported just hours ago after Nicole made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane. Some of the most extensive outages were in Brevard County, just north of where Nicole made landfall along Florida’s central east coast and home to cities such as Melbourne and the Kennedy Space Center. More than 79,000 customers in that county alone were without electricity. Just to the north of Brevard, Volusia County had about 32,000 without service, per Poweroutage.us.
A worker puts up closure signs at a flooded street after Hurricane Nicole's landfall at Vero Beach, Florida, on Nov. 10, 2022. (Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images)
The National Weather Service in Jacksonville issued a total of five tornado warnings Thursday, with the most recent one issued at 12:36 p.m. EST for the northeast of Nassau County and the south central area of Camden County in Georgia. The warnings started as early as 8:24 a.m. EST Thursday for St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach and Villano Beach.
There also were two additional tornado watches issued throughout the day. The first one was issued at 12:45 p.m. for seven counties in Georgia and in place until 7 p.m. EST, according to the NWS Jacksonville. Meanwhile, the second one was issued at 12:56 p.m. EST with the same duration and includes coastal waters from Altamaha Sound, Georgia, to Fernandina Beach in Florida.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell said tornadoes in November are not completely unusual but Nicole’s case could be deemed as rare. “The state of Florida can get tornadoes any time of year, so seeing twisters there in November isn't unusual,” Ferrell said. “Landfalling hurricanes are much rarer, in fact Nicole's landfall is only the third such event in recorded history.”
The Flagler County Sheriff's Office shared a tweet Thursday morning showing the strong waves and winds at Flagler Beach Pier. “We strongly recommend that no one go sight-seeing right now on the barrier island,” the tweet said.
Hurricane Nicole eroded a large chunk of Flagler Beach in Flagler County, Florida, on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. (Flagler County Sheriff's Office)
Less than an hour after, the account posted images of collapsed roads that have been closed, including a portion of the scenic A1A Highway, due to the waves brought to shore from Nicole’s passing. “This is just one of the reasons why we’re advising you to stay off the barrier island until the storm is gone,” they reminded residents.
Hurricane Nicole took out large chunks of a shoreline roadway at Flagler Beach in Flagler County, Florida, on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. (Flagler County Sheriff's Office)
Authorities said at least two people have died after being electrocuted from downed power lines due to Hurricane Nicole’s powerful winds. A man who was found unresponsive was pronounced dead Thursday morning after being shocked by a downed power line in Conway, Florida, which is just outside of Orlando, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. A woman traveling with the man was also electrocuted and later died at a hospital. “We are urging all of our residents and visitors to use extreme caution if they are outside in the wake of the storm today,” the office wrote in a social media post. “Never touch a downed power line. If you are driving and see a downed power line, change directions immediately.”
In this aerial view, flood water surround a building after Hurricane Nicole came ashore on Nov. 10, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Nicole came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane before striking Florida’s east coast. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
St. Augustine’s boardwalks and main tourist areas were quickly flooded after Tropical Storm Nicole neared the area early Thursday morning. The St. Augustine Police Department shared a tweet on Thursday saying “The city is flooding at a rapid pace and the ‘Bridge of Lions’ is closed.” The authorities also asked residents to avoid driving as there have been road closures.
A portion of the Coastal Highway in St. Augustine, Florida, is seen collapsed and crumbled by the force of the storm from Hurricane Nicole and high tide, on Nov. 10, 2022. (St. Johns County Emergency Operations Center)
The National Weather Service office in Jacksonville also said on Twitter there were reports of flooded roads Thursday. “Do NOT attempt to drive or walk through flooding areas, you never know how deep the water is or what is hidden in the waters,” the NWS said. The city opened two shelters for those who have decided to evacuate their homes while the Duval County Emergency Management team issued a tornado watch for the Duval area until 1 p.m. EST Thursday. The Jacksonville airport is set to remain open Thursday yet “many arrivals and departures have been cancelled.”
A portion of the Coastal Highway in St. Augustine, Florida, is seen collapsed and crumbled by the force of the storm from Hurricane Nicole and high tide, on Nov. 10, 2022. (St. Johns County Emergency Operations Center)
Images emerged of Nicole’s damage and destruction along the Florida shoreline Thursday morning, and one of the most extensive damage reports came in from South Florida in the town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. A portion of the Anglins Fishing Pier partially collapsed into the sea and onlookers came to the beach area Thursday morning to get a glimpse. The pier suffered damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017 and was already closed from its middle section to the T shape at the ocean end of the pier, according to Visit Lauderdale, a government agency that promotes tourism efforts in the region. The pier is said to be the longest in South Florida, NBC Miami reported.
“Anglins Fishing Pier is such an iconic landmark in our town, and seeing it damaged is heartbreaking. While the pier is privately owned, I know our town will do what we can to support the property owner in the coming days and months,” Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Mayor Chris Vincent said in a statement to NBC Miami. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is about a two-hour drive south of where Nicole made landfall.
Curious beach goers stand in the surf in front of part of Anglin's Fishing Pier that collapsed into the ocean after Hurricane Nicole arrived, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022, in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fla. Tropical Storm Nicole made landfall as a hurricane early Thursday near Vero Beach, Fla. It's such a sprawling storm that it has covered nearly the entire peninsula while reaching into Georgia and South Carolina. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Hurricane Nicole was a damaging storm for Florida's east coast, but the winds were much less than what Category 4 Hurricane Ian unleashed across Florida's west coast. With Ian, winds gusted between 124 and 128 mph at multiple ground weather stations near landfall. Hurricane Nicole's winds gusted as high as 100 mph on a NASA tower at Kennedy Space Center, but ground stations recorded wind gusts between 65 and 75 mph, with one station reporting an 84 mph gust.
If the news of two hurricanes hitting Florida in a month and a half sounds familiar, that’s because it happened back in 2004. Incredibly, Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Jeanne hit Florida’s west and east coast at almost the same places as Ian and Nicole, and both sets of storms were about 44 days apart.
Tropical Storm Nicole remains centered over central Florida, and the radar imagery showed the large storm covering much of the peninsula and even reaching coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina.
Nicole is forecast to bring a severe weather risk to areas from south of Orlando to locations north of Charleston, South Carolina. AccuWeather meteorologists say isolated tornadoes and damaging wind gusts of 50-60 mph will be possible. In some places, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gust of 75 mph could occur. Already, there have been multiple tornado watches issued in northeastern Florida this morning and a tornado warning for St. Augustine.
After Hurricane Ian left behind severe beach erosion in late September along the Atlantic coast of Florida, Nicole made matters worse this week. Several beachside homes in the coastal community of Wilbur-By-The-Sea in Volusia County are now on the verge of collapsing into the ocean. AccuWeather’s Jillian Angeline captured footage of the endangered homes early Thursday after the sun rose and Nicole had moved into central Florida. Homes are also being threatened by beach erosion in nearby Daytona Beach.
The highest wind gusts from Nicole came from weather stations on NASA towers at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. One weather station located about 120 feet in elevation gusted to 100 mph. This location is where the Artemis I moon rocket, designed to withstand 74.4-knot gusts (86 mph), was stationed. Winds gusted between 70 and 100 mph at other NASA towers in the region. Outside of Cape Canaveral, an amateur weather station at Daytona Beach recorded a wind gust of 84 mph. The wind gusted to 73 mph at the Melbourne Airport, 67 mph at Patrick Air Force Base, and 66 at the Orlando Executive Airport.
More than 242,000 were without power in Florida shortly after 8 a.m. EST Thursday, according to Poweroutage.us. That number is nearly three times higher than what was reported around 5 a.m. EST Thursday. Some of the most extensive outages were in Brevard County, which is just north of where Nicole made landfall and home to cities such as Melbourne and the Kennedy Space Center. More than 87,000 customers in that county alone were without electricity.
Between the northern Plains and the Southeast, two very different weather events are occurring. As Tropical Storm Nicole continues to impact the Southeast, tropical storm warnings are in place across parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Temperatures are in the low to mid-70s across the Southeast while Nicole is dumping heavy rain and bringing gusty winds to the region.
Nearly 1,130 miles to the northwest, a different storm is underway. Blizzard, ice storm, and winter storm warnings are in effect across parts of South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota. Over the past 24 hours, more than 2 feet of snow has fallen in some areas of the Rockies. As snow continues to fall over both North and South Dakota, temperatures will remain well below freezing.
When Nicole made landfall on North Hutchinson Island Thursday morning, it became just the third hurricane on record to make landfall in Florida in the month of November, joining Hurricane Kate in 1985 and the 1935 “Yankee Hurricane,” which made landfall on Nov. 4, 1935, near Miami.
In fact, according to Colorado State University Meteorologist Philip Klotzbach, Nicole is now the only storm in recorded history to make landfall on the state’s east coast after Nov. 4. Kate made landfall on Nov. 21, but along the Florida Panhandle near the town of Mexico Beach, Klotzbach noted. Kate is also the only hurricane on record to make landfall in the continental U.S. that late in an Atlantic hurricane season.
For previous storm reports on Nicole as it approached and made landfall in Florida, click here.
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