Tropical Storm Claudette (2009)
Tropical Storm Claudette peaked at 50 kt in the North Atlantic between August 16, 2009 and August 17, 2009, with a lowest pressure of 1005 mb, and made landfall. It killed 1 people in the United States, by the National Weather Service’s record.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Claudette, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2009 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- August 16, 2009 to August 17, 2009
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 1005 mb (29.68 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.7
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 80 nmi (148 km, 92 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
- Overall size
- 90 nmi (167 km, 104 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Peak gust in the best track
- 55 kt (63 mph)
- Fastest the center moved
- 15 kt (17 mph)
- Identifier
- AL042009
Deaths and damage
The sources count different things and are not added together.
NOAA Storm Events
1 deaths (1 direct, 0 indirect)$150,000
What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 5 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.
Landfall
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 05:30 | Destin, FL, 1 km away | 30.4N 86.5W | 40 kt (46 mph) | 1005 mb |
Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.
In the United States
NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.
- Deaths
- 1 (1 direct, 0 indirect)
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $150,000
- Crop damage
- none recorded
- Events recorded
- 14 in 7 reports from 5 states and marine areas
State by state
| State or marine area | Deaths | Injuries | Damage | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 1 | 0 | $150,000 | 7 |
| Gulf of Mexico | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Arkansas | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Alabama | 0 | 0 | 1 |
What was recorded
6 flash flood, 5 storm surge/tide, 2 marine thunderstorm wind, 1 rip current.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,951 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 5.88 inches (149 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| APALACHICOLA MUNI (ASOS) FL | 5.88 in (149 mm) | 29.73N 85.02W |
| Big Coppitt Key 0.2 NW | 5.62 in (143 mm) | 24.60N 81.66W |
| Crestview 1.9 SE | 5.24 in (133 mm) | 30.73N 86.56W |
| MILLIGAN-YELLOW R FL | 4.66 in (118 mm) | 30.75N 86.63W |
| Crestview 3.7 N | 4.60 in (117 mm) | 30.80N 86.57W |
| CHARLOTTE 3S NC | 4.43 in (113 mm) | 35.18N 80.87W |
| Port St. Joe 0.6 SE | 4.35 in (110 mm) | 29.80N 85.29W |
| Miramar 3.0 WNW | 4.27 in (108 mm) | 25.99N 80.38W |
| CRESTVIEW_4S FL | 3.91 in (99 mm) | 30.70N 86.57W |
| Crestview 2.8 NNW | 3.70 in (94 mm) | 30.79N 86.60W |
| BLEECKER AL | 3.69 in (94 mm) | 32.58N 85.16W |
| Bokeelia 6.6 SSE | 3.69 in (94 mm) | 26.61N 82.12W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Wind reports
The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.
| Wind | How | Where | State | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 kt (43 mph) | Measured | 4.62 N of HILLSBOROUGH BAY | Gulf of Mexico | Aug 18, 18:30 |
| 35 kt (40 mph) | Measured | 3.57 NNE of LOWER TAMPA BAY | Gulf of Mexico | Aug 18, 19:18 |
What forecast offices wrote
From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.
A man was discovered unconscious on the beach behind the Broadwater Beach Resort after being pulled from the water one quarter mile west of the resort. CPR efforts by EMT personnel on scene were unsuccessful.
Bay, Florida · Rip Current · Aug 16, 21:28 UTC
Minor beach erosion and coastal flooding was reported along the Gulf beaches around Destin associated with the landfall of Tropical Storm Claudette. Maximum tides 2.3 feet above normal were reported by a tidal gauge at the East Pass in Destin.
Coastal Okaloosa, Florida · Storm Surge/Tide · Aug 17, 04:00 UTC
Heavy rain produced flash flooding in East Memphis. The intersection of Poplar Avenue and Walnut Grove Road had three feet of water covering the road.
Shelby, Tennessee · Flash Flood · Aug 19, 01:19 UTC
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 06:00 | 27.0N 83.4W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 16, 12:00 | 28.2N 84.2W | 35 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 16, 18:00 | 29.1N 85.1W | 50 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 17, 00:00 | 29.8N 85.8W | 45 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 17, 05:30 landfall | 30.4N 86.5W | 40 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 17, 06:00 | 30.5N 86.6W | 40 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Aug 17, 12:00 | 31.5N 87.5W | 25 kt | 1013 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 17, 18:00 | 32.8N 88.3W | 20 kt | 1017 mb | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 2009
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2009
- Tropical Storm AnaNorth Atlantic · 2009
- Hurricane BillNorth Atlantic · 2009 · 2 deaths · $46 million
- Tropical Storm DannyNorth Atlantic · 2009
- Tropical Storm ErikaNorth Atlantic · 2009
- Hurricane FredNorth Atlantic · 2009
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2009
- Tropical Storm GraceNorth Atlantic · 2009
- Tropical Storm HenriNorth Atlantic · 2009
- Hurricane IdaNorth Atlantic · 2009
What this means
A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.
Sources
Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.