How Tropical Storm Emily snuck up on Southwest Florida with little warning

Chad Gillis
The News-Press

 

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of  roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.

Emily bucked the trend.    

While Floridians typically spend days, if not a week or more watching reports and preparing for the worst (or a party), Tropical Storm Emily sprang up Monday morning with little to no warning. 

"We had that cold front drop into the north central part of the state, and that’s a little unusual to get one that far south in late July," said Dennis Feltgen, with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "We had a wave of low pressure form along that front on Saturday, and the low moved to the southwest and attached itself to the front and by doing so was able to get away from the cold wind that’s associated with the front (and become a tropical storm)." 

More:Tropical Storm Emily moving into Tampa Bay

More:Tropical Storm Emily forms in Gulf; warning issued for SWFL

More:Storm has little impact on RSW airport schedule

More:Gov. Scott declares state of emergency for SWFL counties

Storm slices Outrigger resort roof, guests unharmed

So an out-of-season cold front basically collided with a warmer air mass, and the two melded to produce Emily, which was named shortly before 8 a.m.

Typically hurricanes and tropical storms form far out in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico, leaving Floridians with days to prepare for heavy rains and winds. 

But Emily sprang up along the west coast overnight before making a quick landfall at 10:45 a.m on Anna Maria Island at the south end of Tampa Bay. 

Emily hit the Tampa area much harder than Southwest Florida, and the Skyway Bridge was closed for part of the day. 

Gov. Rick Scott issued a state of emergency around 11 a.m., for nearly half the state, including Lee County. 

"I have declared a state of emergency across 31 counties to ensure that every community has the resources they need, and that state, regional and local agencies can easily work together to keep people prepared during Tropical Storm Emily," Scott said in a statement. “While this storm developed quickly overnight and will swiftly move across our state, storms can always develop rapidly and that is why is it so important to be prepared at the start of hurricane season."

By 5 p.m., Emily had weakened to a depression and was located 70 miles west-southwest of Melbourne.

The single-greatest hazard from Emily was rain, said Feltgen from the hurricane center. 

Waves of particularly strong storm bands swept across Southwest Florida early Monday morning, with some damage reported from local beaches. 

This came on the last day of July, a month that had seen average rainfall until Emily showed up. That followed a very wet June.

On Fort Myers Beach, Tropical Storm Emily's winds slapped hard at The Outrigger Beach Resort, damaging one building’s roof.

“Our beachfront building’s roof took a spin. But no rooms were damaged; nobody’s hurt,” said General Manager Jeanne Bigos.

Tropical Storm Emily moving into Tampa Bay

Bigos said it wasn't necessary to move any guests.

Crowther Roofing was at the resort before 7 a.m. (before Tropical Depression 6 was named Emily) to assess the damage and to plan repairs, Bigos said.

And what of the resort’s popular beachfront tiki bar?

Unscathed.

Said a very busy Bigos: “It’s all good.”

Not everyone was sad to see Emily. 

Roy Massey, owner of Ace Performer Windsurfing, said about 15 sailors were out Sunday evening as the winds built. 

"We want tropical depressions and no one wants a hurricane because they blow way to hard for us to ride, and they usually hit and run," Massey said. "We’d rather have a tropical depression because they're usually really slow." 

Lee County did not open its Emergency Operations Center. 

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Flight information displays at Southwest Florida International Airport showed little or no impact from Tropical Storm Emily.

 

 

 The storm track showed the storm leaving the state near the Space Coast by Monday night.

"It will track across the state and come out to the other side," Feltgen said. "

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Twitter. Laura Ruane contributed to this report.