Philippe (2017)

A broad area of low pressure formed near the coast of Nicaragua in late October 2017 from a tropical wave interacting with a Central American gyre. That disturbance moved north-northeastward and became a tropical depression at 1200 UTC on 28 October about 85 nautical miles south-southwest of the Isle of Youth, Cuba. It strengthened to Tropical Storm Philippe by 1800 UTC 28 October, accelerated northeastward toward Cuba, and dissipated over west‑central Cuba shortly after 0000 UTC 29 October. The remnant circulation and a new non-tropical low then moved northeastward, producing strong winds into the Bahamas before merging with a cold front on 29 October.

Philippe made one official landfall as a tropical storm on the southern coast of Cuba’s Zapata Peninsula around 2200 UTC 28 October, about 25 nautical miles west of the Bay of Pigs, with 35‑kt (40 mph) winds. After degenerating over Cuba, a new non-tropical low near southeastern Florida around 0600 UTC 29 October produced brief gale‑force winds along the immediate southeastern Florida coast and then brought strong winds to parts of the central and northwestern Bahamas.

The storm’s maximum observed intensity was 35 kt (40 mph) with a minimum analyzed central pressure of 1000 mb, corresponding to a weak tropical storm at peak. The peak 35‑kt wind was based on a sustained 35‑kt report from Grand Cayman Island at 1440 UTC on 28 October, and stronger brief gusts were measured later with the post-tropical low (for example, a sustained 40 kt with a 54‑kt gust at Fowey Rocks CMAN and a sustained 55 kt with a 64‑kt gust reported from a yacht at Albany Marina, New Providence).

Rainfall from Philippe and its associated systems produced widespread totals of 2–4 inches across much of South Florida and the east‑central Florida coast, with a swath of 4–8 inches and isolated maxima of 10–11 inches in eastern Broward and Palm Beach counties. Specific totals include 10.93 inches at Boynton Beach and 10.12 inches near Lighthouse Point; Fort Lauderdale reported 9.44 inches and Boca Raton 9.10 inches. Storm surge reports were limited in the official record; notable coastal impacts were mainly from strong winds and rainfall rather than large documented surge values.

There were no reports of deaths or storm-related damage attributed to Philippe in the NHC report. Small-scale impacts included three EF‑0 tornadoes in southeastern Florida on 28 October that caused minor roof damage in Miami‑Dade County and damaged about a dozen homes in Palm Beach County; one tornado produced a measured 64‑kt gust at a monitoring site near West Palm Beach. Forecasts anticipated the system’s development several days in advance, and NHC issued Potential Tropical Cyclone advisories and tropical storm watches/warnings to cover Cuba, the Bahamas, and portions of southeastern Florida.