Hurricane Hermine hit Florida in 2016: Will it happen for a second time?
ORLANDO, Fla. - Six years ago, Hurricane Hermine struck Florida as the first hurricane to hit the state in eleven years.
On Sept. 2, 2016, Hermine made landfall just east of St. Marks, Florida at 1:30 a.m. Storm surge and heavy rainfall along the Florida gulf coast caused significant damage and left hundreds of thousands of residents without power. One death occurred in the state after a tree fell on a homeless man's tent near Ocala. Hermine was the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma on October 24, 2005.
Tropical cyclone names repeat every six years – and now Florida could possibly be threatened by a second Hermine in 2022.
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 1: In this NOAA handout image, taken by the GOES satellite at 1315 UTC shows Tropical Storm Hermine gathering strength in the Gulf of Mexico just west of Florida on September 1, 2016. According to NOAA's National Hurricane C
Forecasters are currently tracking a tropical wave in the southeast Caribbean that has a high chance of becoming our next named storm of the season, which would be Hermine.
RELATED: Tropical wave Invest-98L could have impact on Florida as named storm Hermine
"Disturbance 1 will be named Hermine once intensity reaches tropical storm status," said FOX 35 Storm Team Chief Meteorologist Jayme King said. "Long range models bring this system closer to the Northwest Caribbean or Southern Gulf of Mexico by early next week. Right now, there's much disagreement amongst many of the tropical models."
King says the Euro model shows the system making an impact on the Florida peninsula on Thursday, Sept. 29 while the GFS model has a more westerly track and has it going toward the central Gulf of Mexico, just south of Louisiana by Oct. 1.
Stay with the FOX 35 Storm Team for updates throughout hurricane season.